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Two-dimensional materials

Atomically thin p–n junctions

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 664–665 (2014)Cite this article

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Van der Waals heterostructures consisting of a single MoS2 monolayer and a single WSe2 monolayer can be used to form p–n junctions.

A p–n junction is formed at the boundary between a hole-doped (p-type) and electron-doped (n-type) semiconductor, and creates an electrical field due to electron transfer from the n-type region to the p-type region. This built-in electrical field leads to diode behaviour, which is characterized by asymmetric charge transport under forward and backward biases. Such semiconductor diodes are ubiquitous in modern electronics and optoelectronics, ranging from rectifying diodes, frequency mixing diodes and tunnelling diodes to photodiodes, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. A key parameter in semiconductor diodes is the thickness of the p–n junction, which is typically 10 nm to 1 μm depending on the diode type. Atomically thin layers of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, such as transition metal dichalcogenides, offer opportunities for engineering novel semiconductor p–n junctions. Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Philip Kim and co-workers at Columbia University, Korea University, Yonsei University and the University of Florida now report the thinnest possible p–n junction, formed in a van der Waals stacked heterostructure composed of one WSe2 monolayer and one MoS2 monolayer1.

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Figure 1: Atomically thin p–n junctions in van der Waals heterostructures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Su-Fei Shi and Feng Wang are in the Department of Physics, University of California, 366 LeConte Hall #7300, Berkeley, California 94720-7300, USA,

    Su-Fei Shi & Feng Wang

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  1. Su-Fei Shi
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  2. Feng Wang
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Correspondence to Feng Wang.

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Shi, SF., Wang, F. Atomically thin p–n junctions. Nature Nanotech 9, 664–665 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.186

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