Boosted Solar Light Absorbance in PdS2/PtS2 Vertical Heterostructures for Ultrathin Photovoltaic Devices

Recent Progress in Strain Engineering on Van der Waals 2D Materials: Tunable Electrical, Electrochemical, Magnetic, and Optical Properties

Strain engineering is a promising way to tune the electrical, electrochemical, magnetic, and optical properties of 2D materials, with the potential to achieve high-performance 2D-material-based devices ultimately. This review discusses the experimental and theoretical results from recent advances in the strain engineering of 2D materials. Some novel methods to induce strain are summarized and then the tunable electrical and optical/optoelectronic properties of 2D materials via strain engineering are highlighted, including particularly the previously less-discussed strain tuning of superconducting, magnetic, and electrochemical properties. Also, future perspectives of strain engineering are given for its potential applications in functional devices. The state of the survey presents the ever-increasing advantages and popularity of strain engineering for tuning properties of 2D materials. Suggestions and insights for further research and applications in optical, electronic, and spintronic devices are provided.

A first-principles study on the electronic, piezoelectric, and optical properties and strain-dependent carrier mobility of Janus TiXY (X ≠ Y, X/Y = Cl, Br, I) monolayers

Janus transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers (TMDs) have attracted wide attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties since the successful synthesis of the MoSSe monolayer. However, the related studies of Janus monolayers of transition metal halides (TMHs) with similar structures have rarely been reported. In this article, we systematically investigate the electronic properties, piezoelectric properties, optical properties, and carrier mobility of new Janus TiXY (X ≠ Y, X/Y = Cl, Br, I) monolayers using first principles calculations for the first time. These Janus TiXY monolayers are thermally, dynamically, and mechanically stable, and their energy bands near the Fermi level (E_F) are almost entirely contributed by the central Ti atom. Besides, the Janus TiXY monolayers exhibit excellent in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric effects, especially with an in-plane piezoelectric coefficient of ∼4.58 pm V^-1 for the TiBrI monolayer and an out-of-plane piezoelectric coefficient of ∼1.63 pm V^-1 for the TiClI monolayer, suggesting their promising applications in piezoelectric sensors and energy storage applications. The absorption spectra of Janus TiXY monolayers are mainly distributed in the visible and infrared regions, implying that they are fantastic candidates for photoelectric and photovoltaic applications. The obtained carrier mobilities revealed that TiXY monolayers are hole-type semiconductors. Under uniaxial compressive strain, the hole mobilities of these monolayers are gradually improved, indicating that TiXY monolayers have potential applications in the field of flexible electronic devices.

Interlayer and Intralayer Excitons in AlN/WS2 Heterostructure

The study of intra and interlayer excitons in 2D semiconducting vdW heterostructures is a very hot topic not only from a fundamental but also an applicative point of view. Due to their strong light-matter interaction, Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMD) and group-III nitrides are particularly attractive in the field of opto-electronic applications such as photo-catalytic and photo-voltaic ultra-thin and flexible devices. Using first-principles ground and excited-state simulations, we investigate here the electronic and excitonic properties of a representative nitride/TMD heterobilayer, the AlN/WS2. We demonstrate that the band alignment is of type I, and low energy intralayer excitons are similar to those of a pristine WS2 monolayer. Further, we disentangle the role of strain and AlN dielectric screening on the electronic and optical gaps. These results, although they do not favor the possible use of AlN/WS2 in photo-catalysis, as envisaged in the previous literature, can boost the recently started experimental studies of 2D hexagonal aluminum nitride as a good low screening substrate for TMD-based electronic and opto-electronic devices. Importantly, our work shows how the inclusion of both spin-orbit and many-body interactions is compulsory for the correct prediction of the electronic and optical properties of TMD/nitride heterobilayers.

Prediction of Effective Photoelectron and Hole Separation in Type-I MoS2/PtSe2 van der Waals Junction

Understanding the dynamics of charge transfer at vertical heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers is fundamentally important for future technological applications, given the unique feature of van der Waals interactions at the interface. Here, we employ time-dependent density functional theory formalism combined with molecular dynamics to investigate photoexcited electrons and holes in the type-I MoS₂/PtSe₂ van der Waals heterobilayer. While type-I junctions have been traditionally viewed as being ineffective in photocarrier separation, we show that here a different mechanism from type-II is at play, which effectively separates photoelectrons from photoholes. The key is the phonon bottleneck, arising from the characteristically different dynamic band alignments in the valence and conduction bands, respectively, which only affects the transfer of holes but not electrons. The disparity between electron and hole transfer rates offers a new direction for effective control of charge separation at interfaces.

A two-dimensional PtS2/BN heterostructure as an S-scheme photocatalyst with enhanced activity for overall water splitting

The optical absorption spectra of the PtS2/BN heterojunction.