Nanometer-Scale Lateral p-n Junctions in Graphene/α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> Heterostructures.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35226804.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04579 and PMC identifier 8915251.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
The ability to create nanometer-scale lateral p-n junctions is essential for the next generation of two-dimensional (2D) devices. Using the charge-transfer heterostructure graphene/α-RuCl<sub>3</sub>, we realize nanoscale lateral p-n junctions in the vicinity of graphene nanobubbles. Our multipronged experimental approach incorporates scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) and scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) to simultaneously probe the electronic and optical responses of nanobubble p-n junctions. Our STM/STS results reveal that p-n junctions with a band offset of ∼0.6 eV can be achieved with widths of ∼3 nm, giving rise to electric fields of order 10<sup>8</sup> V/m. Concurrent s-SNOM measurements validate a point-scatterer formalism for modeling the interaction of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with nanobubbles. <i>Ab initio</i> density functional theory (DFT) calculations corroborate our experimental data and reveal the dependence of charge transfer on layer separation. Our study provides experimental and conceptual foundations for generating p-n nanojunctions in 2D materials.