A gate-free monolayer WSe<sub>2</sub> pn diode.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30087328.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05326-x and PMC identifier 6081376.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Interest in bringing p- and n-type monolayer semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) into contact to form rectifying pn diode has thrived since it is crucial to control the electrical properties in two-dimensional (2D) electronic and optoelectronic devices. Usually this involves vertically stacking different TMDs with pn heterojunction or, laterally manipulating carrier density by gate biasing. Here, by utilizing a locally reversed ferroelectric polarization, we laterally manipulate the carrier density and created a WSe<sub>2</sub> pn homojunction on the supporting ferroelectric BiFeO<sub>3</sub> substrate. This non-volatile WSe<sub>2</sub> pn homojunction is demonstrated with optical and scanning probe methods and scanning photoelectron micro-spectroscopy. A homo-interface is a direct manifestation of our WSe<sub>2</sub> pn diode, which can be quantitatively understood as a clear rectifying behavior. The non-volatile confinement of carriers and associated gate-free pn homojunction can be an addition to the 2D electron-photon toolbox and pave the way to develop laterally 2D electronics and photonics.