Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) thin films were grown directly on SiO2 covered wafers by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at the deposition temperatures ranging from 175 to 225 degrees C using molybdenum hexacarbonyl [Mo(CO)(6)] and H2S plasma as the precursor and reactant, respectively. Self-limited film growth on the thermally-grown SiO2 substrate was observed with both the precursor and reactant pulsing time. The growth rate was similar to 0.05 nm/cycle and a short incubation cycle of around 13 was observed at a deposition temperature of 175 degrees C. The MoS2 films formed nanocrystalline microstructure with a hexagonal crystal system (2H-MoS2), which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Single crystal MoS2 nanosheets, similar to 20 nm in size, were fabricated by controlling the number of ALD cycles. The ALD-MoS2 thin films exhibited good stoichiometry with negligible C impurities, approximately 0.1 at.% from Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of chemical bonding from MoS2. The step coverage of ALD-MoS2 was approximately 75% at a 100 nm sized trench. Overall, the ALD-MoS2 process made uniform deposition possible on the wafer-scale (4 in. in diameter). (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.