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Group-IV monochalcogenides have recently shown great potential for their thermoelectric, ferroelectric, and other intriguing properties. The electrical properties of group-IV monochalcogenides exhibit a strong dependence on the chalcogen type. For example, GeTe exhibits high doping concentration, whereas S/Se-based chalcogenides are semiconductors with sizable bandgaps. Here, we investigate the electrical and thermoelectric properties of gamma-GeSe, a recently identified polymorph of GeSe. gamma-GeSe exhibits high electrical conductivity (~106 S/m) and a relatively low Seebeck coefficient (9.4 uV/K at room temperature) owing to its high p-doping level (5x1021 cm-3), which is in stark contrast to other known GeSe polymorphs. Elemental analysis and first-principles calculations confirm that the abundant formation of Ge vacancies leads to the high p-doping concentration. The magnetoresistance measurements also reveal weak-antilocalization because of spin-orbit coupling in the crystal. Our results demonstrate that gamma-GeSe is a unique polymorph in which the modified local bonding configuration leads to substantially different physical properties.

The properties of metal-semiconductor junctions are often unpredictable because of non-ideal interfacial structures, such as interfacial defects or chemical reactions introduced at junctions. Black phosphorus (BP), an elemental two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting crystal, possesses the puckered atomic structure with high chemical reactivity, and the establishment of a realistic atomic-scale picture of BP's interface toward metallic contact has remained elusive. Here we examine the interfacial structures and properties of physically-deposited metals of various kinds on BP. We find that Au, Ag, and Bi form single-crystalline films with (110) orientation through guided van der Waals epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm that atomically sharp van der Waals metal-BP interfaces forms with exceptional rotational alignment. Under a weak metal-BP interaction regime, the BP's puckered structure play an essential role in the adatom assembly process and can lead to the formation of a single crystal, which is supported by our theoretical analysis and calculations. The experimental survey also demonstrates that the BP-metal junctions can exhibit various types of interfacial structures depending on metals, such as the formation of polycrystalline microstructure or metal phosphides. This study provides a guideline for obtaining a realistic view on metal-2D semiconductor interfacial structures, especially for atomically puckered 2D crystals., Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures

Band gap of monolayer and few layers in two dimensional (2D) semiconductors has usually been measured by optical probing such as photoluminescence (PL). However, if their exfoliated thickness is as large as a few nm (multilayer over ~5L), PL measurements become less effective and inaccurate because the optical transition of 2D semiconductor is changed from direct to indirect mode. Here, we introduce another way to estimate the bandgap of multilayer 2D van der Waals semiconductors; that is utilizing field effect transistor (FET) as a platform. We used graphene (thin graphite or multilayer graphene) contact for multilayer van der Waals channels in FET, because graphene contact would secure ambipolar behavior and enable Schottky contact barrier tuning of FETs with the assistance of top passivation. As a result, the bandgaps of multilayer transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus in unknown thickness were successfully estimated through measuring the temperature-dependent transfer curve characteristics of prepared 2D FETs with graphene contact.

Mono- and few-layer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) provide opportunities for ideal two-dimensional semiconductors for electronic and optoelectronic devices. For electronic devices on TMDCs, it is essential to incorporate n- and/or p-type dopants which are stable in positions after patterned doping. Here we investigate hydrogen doping for TMDC (MX2 with M = Mo, W and X = S, Se, Te) nanosheets by first-principles calculations to address diffusion and doping properties. We find that adsorbed hydrogen atoms in TMDCs are energetically most stable at the interstitial site right on the Mo or W plane and have substantial energy barriers against diffusion that increase in the order of sulfides, selenides, and tellurides. Located at the most stable interstitial site on the Mo or W plane, the hydrogen atoms produce electrons in the conduction bands in the extremely high rate of one electron per hydrogen atom, without any defect state inside the band gap remarkably. We analyze the chemical bonding character around the dopant and the mechanism for such high efficiency of electron doping. We also consider properties of hydrogen molecules and Te vacancies for comparison. Our work shows that hydrogen doping is the promising pathway to development of highly integrated electronic devices on TMDCs, Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables

We report on p-WSe2/n-MoS2 heterojunction diodes fabricated both on glass and SiO2/p+-Si substrates. The electrostatic performance and stability of our diode were successfully improved toward ideal current-voltage (I-V) behavior by adopting the fluoropolymer CYTOP encapsulation layer on top of our diode; reduction of reverse-bias leakage current and enhancement of forward-bias on current were achieved along with good aging stability in air ambient. Such performance improvement is attributed to the intrinsic properties of CYTOP materials with C-F bonds whose strong dipole moment causes hole accumulation, while the strong hydrophobicity of CYTOP would prevent ambient molecule adsorption on 2D semiconductor surface. Moreover, fabricated on glass, our p-n diode displayed good dynamic rectification at over 100 Hz, without displacement current-induced signal overshoot/undershoot which was shown in the other diode on SiO2/p+-Si. Little I-V hysteresis in our diode is another benefit of glass substrate. We conclude that our CYTOP-encapsulated WSe2/MoS2 p-n diode on glass is a high performance and ambient stable 2D nanodevice toward future advanced electronics.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheet, one of two dimensional (2D) semiconductors, has recently been regarded as a promising material to break through the limit of present semiconductors including graphene. However, its potential in carrier mobility has still been depreciated since the field-effect mobilities have only been measured from metal-insulator-semiconductor field effect transistors (MISFETs), where the transport behavior of conducting carriers located at the insulator/MoS2 interface is unavoidably interfered by the interface traps and gate voltage. Here, we for the first time report MoS2-based metal semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) with NiOx Schottky electrode, where the maximum mobilities or carrier transport behavior of the Schottky devices may hardly be interfered by on-state gate field. Our MESFETs with single-, double-, and triple-layered MoS2 respectively demonstrate high mobilities of 6000, 3500, and 2800 cm2/Vs at a certain low threshold voltage of -1 ~ -2 V. The thickness-dependent mobility difference in MESFETs was theoretically explained with electron scattering reduction mechanisms., Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures, Supplementary Materials