Natural intrinsic potential barriers in two-dimensional indium selenide nanosheets: A platform for novel 2D-based electronic devices

Two-dimensional semiconductors can constitute the building blocks of new heterostructures based on two-dimensional (2D) materials with potential applications in optoelectronic, spintronic, and valleytronics [1].  Van der Waals heterostructures could be created by stacking different 2D materials using mechanical transfer techniques. However, the control of the interface quality remains challenging for the development of efficient and high-performance electronic devices. In-plane based devices can overcome these problemas, but the intrinsic nature to the in-plane covalent bonding enhaces the lattice mismatch effects usually observed in bulk devices. In this work, we take advantage of quantum confinement effects of 2D semiconductors to create in-plane devices with minimal lattice mismatch effects. In particular, we show that the distinct properties of two-dimensional indium selenide nanosheets can open the door for the development of new kind of junctions and related devices that can be considered as a hybrid hetero/homo junction.[2,3] In particular, we have analyzed the electronic properties of intrinsic barriers found in two-dimensional InSe nanosheets, by nano-photoemission and photocurrent response measurements, demonstrating that abrupt interfaces can be promoted to naturally appear in 2D InSe.

References:

[1]  T. Niu, et al., Prog. Surf. Sci., 90 (2015) 21.

[2]   J. F. Sánchez-Royo, et al., Nano Res., 7 (2014) 1556.

[3]  M. Brotons-Gisbert, et al., Nano Lett., 16 (2016) 3221.