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Atomically thin p–n junctions with van der Waals heterointerfaces

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 676–681 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Semiconductor p–n junctions are essential building blocks for electronic and optoelectronic devices1,2. In conventional p–n junctions, regions depleted of free charge carriers form on either side of the junction, generating built-in potentials associated with uncompensated dopant atoms. Carrier transport across the junction occurs by diffusion and drift processes influenced by the spatial extent of this depletion region. With the advent of atomically thin van der Waals materials and their heterostructures, it is now possible to realize a p–n junction at the ultimate thickness limit3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Van der Waals junctions composed of p- and n-type semiconductors—each just one unit cell thick—are predicted to exhibit completely different charge transport characteristics than bulk heterojunctions10,11,12. Here, we report the characterization of the electronic and optoelectronic properties of atomically thin p–n heterojunctions fabricated using van der Waals assembly of transition-metal dichalcogenides. We observe gate-tunable diode-like current rectification and a photovoltaic response across the p–n interface. We find that the tunnelling-assisted interlayer recombination of the majority carriers is responsible for the tunability of the electronic and optoelectronic processes. Sandwiching an atomic p–n junction between graphene layers enhances the collection of the photoexcited carriers. The atomically scaled van der Waals p–n heterostructures presented here constitute the ultimate functional unit for nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices.

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Figure 1: Charge transport in an atomically thin p–n heterojunction.
Figure 2: Gate-tunable photovoltaic response.
Figure 3: Graphene-sandwiched van der Waals p–n heterojunctions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported as part of the Center for Re-defining Photovoltaic Efficiency Through Molecule Scale Control, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (award no. DE-SC0001085), and in part by the National Science Foundation (DMR-1124894) and by the FAME Center, one of six centres of STARnet, a Semiconductor Research Corporation programme sponsored by MARCO and DARPA. G.H.L. and M.H. acknowledge support from the Basic Science Research Program (2014R1A1A1004632) (G.H.L.) and the Nano Material Technology Development Program (2012M3A7B4049966) (M.H.) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Chul-Ho Lee, Yilei Li, Tony F. Heinz & Philip Kim

  2. Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Chul-Ho Lee & Colin Nuckolls

  3. KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    Chul-Ho Lee

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Korea

    Gwan-Hyoung Lee

  5. Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), 1001 Schapiro Center (CEPSR), Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Arend M. van der Zande

  6. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611-6200, Florida, USA

    Wenchao Chen & Jing Guo

  7. Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Minyong Han

  8. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Xu Cui, Ghidewon Arefe & James Hone

  9. Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Tony F. Heinz

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  1. Chul-Ho Lee
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Contributions

C-H.L., G-H.L., M.H., X.C. and G.A. fabricated and characterized the van der Waals p–n heterostructures. C-H.L. and G-H.L. performed device fabrication and transport measurements. A.M.v.d.Z. and C-H.L. performed photocurrent measurements. W.C. and J.G. provided theoretical support. Y.L. performed optical characterization. P.K., J.H., T.F.H., J.G. and C.N. advised on experiments. C-H.L. and P.K. wrote the manuscript in consultation with G-H.L., A.M.v.d.Z., W.C., C.N., T.F.H., J.G. and J.H.

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Correspondence to Philip Kim.

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Lee, CH., Lee, GH., van der Zande, A. et al. Atomically thin p–n junctions with van der Waals heterointerfaces. Nature Nanotech 9, 676–681 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.150

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