Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Highly efficient gate-tunable photocurrent generation in vertical heterostructures of layered materials

Nature Nanotechnology volume 8, pages 952–958 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Layered materials of graphene and MoS2, for example, have recently emerged as an exciting material system for future electronics and optoelectronics. Vertical integration of layered materials can enable the design of novel electronic and photonic devices. Here, we report highly efficient photocurrent generation from vertical heterostructures of layered materials. We show that vertically stacked graphene–MoS2–graphene and graphene–MoS2–metal junctions can be created with a broad junction area for efficient photon harvesting. The weak electrostatic screening effect of graphene allows the integration of single or dual gates under and/or above the vertical heterostructure to tune the band slope and photocurrent generation. We demonstrate that the amplitude and polarity of the photocurrent in the gated vertical heterostructures can be readily modulated by the electric field of an external gate to achieve a maximum external quantum efficiency of 55% and internal quantum efficiency up to 85%. Our study establishes a method to control photocarrier generation, separation and transport processes using an external electric field.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Photocurrent generation in vertical heterostructures of graphene–MoS2–graphene.
Figure 2: Field-effect modulated photocurrent generation in single-gated graphene–MoS2–graphene heterostructures.
Figure 3: Field-effect switchable photocurrent generation in dual-gated graphene–MoS2–graphene heterostructures.
Figure 4: Field-effect modulated photocurrent generation in a single-gated graphene–MoS2–metal heterostructure.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Novoselov, K. S. et al. A roadmap for graphene. Nature 490, 192–200 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Weiss, N. O. et al. Graphene: an emerging electronic material. Adv. Mater. 24, 5782–5825 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schwierz, F. Graphene transistors. Nature Nanotech. 5, 487–496 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bonaccorso, F., Sun, Z., Hasan, T. & Ferrari, A. C. Graphene photonics and optoelectronics. Nature Photon. 4, 611–622 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Avouris, P. Graphene: electronic and photonic properties and devices. Nano Lett. 10, 4285–4294 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bao, Q. & Loh, K. P. Graphene photonics, plasmonics, and broadband optoelectronic devices. ACS Nano 6, 3677–3694 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lin, Y. M. et al. Wafer-scale graphene integrated circuit. Science 10, 1294–1297 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Liao, L. et al. High-speed graphene transistors with a self-aligned nanowire gate. Nature 467, 305–308 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Britnell, L. et al. Field-effect tunneling transistor based on vertical graphene heterostructure. Science 335, 947–950 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Yang, H. et al. Graphene barristor, a triode device with a gate-controlled schottky barrier. Science 336, 1140–1143 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yu, W. J. et al. Vertically stacked multi-heterostructures of layered materials for logic transistors and complementary inverters. Nature Mater. 12, 246–252 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Georgiou, T. et al. Vertical field-effect transistor based on graphene–WS2 heterostructures for flexible and transparent electronics. Nature Nanotech. 8, 100–103 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Haigh, S. J. et al. Cross-sectional imaging of individual layers and buried interfaces of graphene-based heterostructures and superlattices. Nature Mater. 11, 764–767 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Xia, F., Mueller, T., Lin, Y. M., Valdes-Garcia, A. & Avouris, P. Ultrafast graphene photodetector. Nature Nanotech. 4, 839–843 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mueller, T., Xia, F. & Avouris, P. Graphene photodetectors for high-speed optical communications. Nature Photon. 4, 297–301 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, Y. et al. Plasmon resonance enhanced multicolour photodetection by graphene. Nature Commun. 2, 579 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Echtermeyer, T. et al. Strong plasmonic enhancement of photovoltage in graphene. Nature Commun. 2, 458 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sun, D. et al. Ultrafast hot-carrier-dominated photocurrent in graphene. Nature Nanotech. 7, 114–118 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Sun, Z. et al. Graphene mode-locked ultrafast laser. ACS Nano 4, 803–810 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bao, Q. et al. Broadband graphene polarizer. Nature Photon. 5, 411–415 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bae, S. et al. Roll-to-roll production of 30-inch graphene films for transparent electrodes. Nature Nanotech. 5, 574–478 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Liu, M. et al. A graphene-based broadband optical modulator. Nature 474, 64–67 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Nair, R. R. et al. Fine structure constant defines visual transparency of graphene. Science 320, 1308–1308 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen, J. H., Jang, C., Xiao, S., Ishigami, M. & Fuhrer, M. S. Intrinsic and extrinsic performance limits of graphene devices on SiO2 . Nature Nanotech. 3, 206–209 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Hwang, E., Hu, B. Y. K. & Sarma, S. D. Inelastic carrier lifetime in graphene. Phys. Rev. B 76, 115434 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Fontana, M. et al. Electron–hole transport and photovoltaic effect in gated MoS2 Schottky junction. Sci. Rep. 3, 1634 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Ryu, S. et al. Atmospheric oxygen binding and hole doping in deformed on a SiO2 substrate. Nano Lett. 10, 4944–4951 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sze, S. M. & Ng, K. K. Physics of Semiconductor Devices (Wiley, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Eda, G. et al. Photoluminescence from chemically exfoliated MoS2 . Nano Lett. 11, 5111–5116 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Mak, K. F., Lee, C., Hone, J., Shan, J. & Heinz, T. F. Atomically thin MoS2: a new direct-gap semiconductor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 136805 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Nair, R. R. et al. Fine structure constant defines visual transparency of graphene. Science 320, 1308 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Lemme, M. C. et al. Gate-activated photoresponse in a graphene p–n junction. Nano Lett. 11, 4134–4137 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Li, X. et al. Graphene-on-silicon Schottky junction solar cells. Adv. Mater. 22, 2743–2748 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Miao, X. et al. High efficiency graphene solar cell by chemical doping. Nano. Lett. 12, 2745–2750 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Britnell, L. et al. Strong light–matter interactions in heterostructures of atomically thin films. Science 340, 1311–1314 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Reina, A. et al. Large area, few-layer graphene films on arbitrary substrates by chemical vapor deposition. Nano Lett. 9, 30–35 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Li, X. et al. Large-area synthesis of high quality and uniform graphene films on copper foils. Science 324, 1312–1314 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Liu, L. et al. A systematic study of atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition growth of large-area monolayer grapheme. J. Mater. Chem. 22, 1498–1503 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Zhou, H. et al. Chemical vapour deposition growth of large single crystals of monolayer and bilayer graphene. Nature Commun. 4, 2096 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Radisavljevic, B., Radenovic, A., Brivio1, J., Giacometti, V. & Kis, A. Single-layer MoS2 transistors. Nature Nanotech. 6, 147–150 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge technical support from the Nanoelectronics Research Facility at UCLA. X.D. acknowledges partial support from a National Science Foundation CAREER award (DMR-0956171) and an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (N00014-12-1-0745). W.J.Y. acknowledges partial support from a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; NRF-2011-351-c00034) and the Institute for Basic Science in Korea. Y.H. acknowledges support from the National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award Program (1DP2OD007279). Z.L. is a visiting student from the Department of Physics, Peking University, sponsored by the UCLA cross-disciplinary scholars in science and technology (CSST) programme.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Woo Jong Yu, Hailong Zhou, Anxiang Yin, Zheng Li & Xiangfeng Duan

  2. Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea

    Woo Jong Yu

  3. Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea

    Woo Jong Yu

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Yuan Liu & Yu Huang

  5. California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Yu Huang & Xiangfeng Duan

Authors
  1. Woo Jong Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hailong Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anxiang Yin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zheng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yu Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiangfeng Duan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

X.D. conceived the research. X.D. and W.J.Y. designed the experiment. W.J.Y. performed most of the experiments, including device fabrication, characterization and data analysis. Y.L. helped W.J.Y. with photocurrent measurements. H.Z. synthesized the graphene samples. A.Y. performed the reflectance measurements. Z.L. performed the simulations. Y.H. and X.D. supervised the research. X.D. and W.J.Y. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiangfeng Duan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 987 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yu, W., Liu, Y., Zhou, H. et al. Highly efficient gate-tunable photocurrent generation in vertical heterostructures of layered materials. Nature Nanotech 8, 952–958 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.219

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.219

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing