Electric Field and Strain Tuning of 2D Semiconductor van der Waals Heterostructures for Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors.

Heterostacks consisting of low-dimensional materials are attractive candidates for future electronic nanodevices in the post-silicon era. In this paper, using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), we explore the structural and electronic properties of MoTe2/ZrS2 heterostructures with various stacking patterns and thicknesses. Our simulations show that the valence band (VB) edge of MoTe2 is almost aligned with the conduction band (CB) edge of ZrS2, and (MoTe2)m/(ZrS2)m (m = 1, 2) heterostructures exhibit the long-sought broken gap band alignment, which is pivotal for realizing tunneling transistors. Electrons are found to spontaneously flow from MoTe2 to ZrS2, and the system resembles an ultrascaled parallel plate capacitor with an intrinsic electric field pointed from MoTe2 to ZrS2. The effects of strain and external electric fields on the electronic properties are also investigated. For vertical compressive strains, the charge transfer increases due to the decreased coupling between the layers, whereas tensile strains lead to the opposite behavior. For negative electric fields a transition from the type-III to the type-II band alignment is induced. In contrast, by increasing the positive electric fields, a larger overlap between the valence and conduction bands is observed, leading to a larger band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) current. Low-strained heterostructures with various rotation angles between the constituent layers are also considered. We find only small variations in the energies of the VB and CB edges with respect to the Fermi level, for different rotation angles up to 30°. Overall, our simulations offer insights into the fundamental properties of low-dimensional heterostructures and pave the way for their future application in energy-efficient electronic nanodevices.

Stoner Ferromagnetism in Hole-Doped CuMIIIAO2 with MIIIA = Al, Ga, and In.

Using density functional theory calculations, we examine the effect of hole doping on the magnetic and electronic properties of CuMIIIAO2, with MIIIA = Al, Ga, and In. CuMIIIAO2 nonmagnetic semiconductors switch to ferromagnetic half-metals upon hole doping. For CuAlO2, the nonmagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transition occurs for hole densities of ∼7 × 1019/cm3. Ferromagnetism arises from an exchange splitting of the electronic states at the valence band edge, and it can be attributed to the high-lying Cu-d states. Hole doping induced by cation vacancies and substitutional divalent dopants is also investigated. Interestingly, both vacancies and nonmagnetic divalent dopants result in the emergence of ferromagnetism.

Carrier-mediated ferromagnetism in two-dimensional PtS2.

Using first principles calculations based on density functional theory, we study the impact of hole doping on the magnetic and electronic properties of two dimensional PtS2. Although 2D PtS2 is intrinsically non-magnetic, a stable ferromagnetic phase is found for a wide range of hole densities, owing to the so-called Stoner instabilities. Besides spontaneous magnetization, half-metallicity is additionally observed. The majority and minority spin states exhibit insulating and metallic nature, respectively, allowing a fully polarized spin transport in 2D PtS2. Lastly, hole doping resulting from substitutional doping is investigated. For As-doped PtS2 shallow spin-polarized states close to the valence band edge are observed, and among all studied group-V dopants, As replacing S, is the most promising one to induce p-type conductivity and a subsequent ferromagnetic order in PtS2.