Fengqi Song

Hopping transport through defect-induced localized states in molybdenum disulphide

Molybdenum disulphide is a novel two-dimensional semiconductor with potential applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the nature of charge transport in back-gated devices still remains elusive as they show much lower mobility than theoretical calculations and native n-type doping. Here we report a study of transport in few-layer molybdenum disulphide, together with transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory. We provide direct evidence that sulphur vacancies exist in molybdenum disulphide, introducing localized donor states inside the bandgap. Under low carrier densities, the transport exhibits nearest-neighbour hopping at high temperatures and variable-range hopping at low temperatures, which can be well explained under Mott formalism. We suggest that the low-carrier-density transport is dominated by hopping via these localized gap states. Our study reveals the important role of short-range surface defects in tailoring the properties and device applications of molybdenum disulphide.

Integrated digital inverters based on two-dimensional anisotropic ReS2 field-effect transistors

Semiconducting two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides are emerging as top candidates for post-silicon electronics. While most of them exhibit isotropic behaviour, lowering the lattice symmetry could induce anisotropic properties, which are both scientifically interesting and potentially useful. Here we present atomically thin rhenium disulfide (ReS2) flakes with unique distorted 1T structure, which exhibit in-plane anisotropic properties. We fabricated monolayer and few-layer ReS2 field-effect transistors, which exhibit competitive performance with large current on/off ratios (∼107) and low subthreshold swings (100 mV per decade). The observed anisotropic ratio along two principle axes reaches 3.1, which is the highest among all known two-dimensional semiconducting materials. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated an integrated digital inverter with good performance by utilizing two ReS2 anisotropic field-effect transistors, suggesting the promising implementation of large-scale two-dimensional logic circuits. Our results underscore the unique properties of two-dimensional semiconducting materials with low crystal symmetry for future electronic applications.

Two-dimensional quasi-freestanding molecular crystals for high-performance organic field-effect transistors

Two-dimensional atomic crystals are extensively studied in recent years due to their exciting physics and device applications. However, a molecular counterpart, with scalable processability and competitive device performance, is still challenging. Here, we demonstrate that high-quality few-layer dioctylbenzothienobenzothiophene molecular crystals can be grown on graphene or boron nitride substrate via van der Waals epitaxy, with precisely controlled thickness down to monolayer, large-area single crystal, low process temperature and patterning capability. The crystalline layers are atomically smooth and effectively decoupled from the substrate due to weak van der Waals interactions, affording a pristine interface for high-performance organic transistors. As a result, monolayer dioctylbenzothienobenzothiophene molecular crystal field-effect transistors on boron nitride show record-high carrier mobility up to 10 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and aggressively scaled saturation voltage ~1 V. Our work unveils an exciting new class of two-dimensional molecular materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Pressure-driven dome-shaped superconductivity and electronic structural evolution in tungsten ditelluride

Tungsten ditelluride has attracted intense research interest due to the recent discovery of its large unsaturated magnetoresistance up to 60 T. Motivated by the presence of a small, sensitive Fermi surface of 5d electronic orbitals, we boost the electronic properties by applying a high pressure, and introduce superconductivity successfully. Superconductivity sharply appears at a pressure of 2.5 GPa, rapidly reaching a maximum critical temperature (Tc) of 7 K at around 16.8 GPa, followed by a monotonic decrease in Tc with increasing pressure, thereby exhibiting the typical dome-shaped superconducting phase. From theoretical calculations, we interpret the low-pressure region of the superconducting dome to an enrichment of the density of states at the Fermi level and attribute the high-pressure decrease in Tc to possible structural instability. Thus, tungsten ditelluride may provide a new platform for our understanding of superconductivity phenomena in transition metal dichalcogenides.

Signature of Strong Spin-Orbital Coupling in the Large Nonsaturating Magnetoresistance Material WTe2.

We report the detailed electronic structure of WTe2 by high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We resolved a rather complicated Fermi surface of WTe2. Specifically, there are in total nine Fermi pockets, including one hole pocket at the Brillouin zone center Γ, and two hole pockets and two electron pockets on each side of Γ along the Γ-X direction. Remarkably, we have observed circular dichroism in our photoemission spectra, which suggests that the orbital angular momentum exhibits a rich texture at various sections of the Fermi surface. This is further confirmed by our density-functional-theory calculations, where the spin texture is qualitatively reproduced as the conjugate consequence of spin-orbital coupling. Since the spin texture would forbid backscatterings that are directly involved in the resistivity, our data suggest that the spin-orbit coupling and the related spin and orbital angular momentum textures may play an important role in the anomalously large magnetoresistance of WTe2. Furthermore, the large differences among spin textures calculated for magnetic fields along the in-plane and out-of-plane directions also provide a natural explanation of the large field-direction dependence on the magnetoresistance.

Discovery of a new type of topological Weyl fermion semimetal state in MoxW1-xTe2.

The recent discovery of a Weyl semimetal in TaAs offers the first Weyl fermion observed in nature and dramatically broadens the classification of topological phases. However, in TaAs it has proven challenging to study the rich transport phenomena arising from emergent Weyl fermions. The series MoxW1−xTe2 are inversion-breaking, layered, tunable semimetals already under study as a promising platform for new electronics and recently proposed to host Type II, or strongly Lorentz-violating, Weyl fermions. Here we report the discovery of a Weyl semimetal in MoxW1−xTe2 at x=25%. We use pump-probe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (pump-probe ARPES) to directly observe a topological Fermi arc above the Fermi level, demonstrating a Weyl semimetal. The excellent agreement with calculation suggests that MoxW1−xTe2 is a Type II Weyl semimetal. We also find that certain Weyl points are at the Fermi level, making MoxW1−xTe2 a promising platform for transport and optics experiments on Weyl semimetals.

Fermi arc electronic structure and Chern numbers in the type-II Weyl semimetal candidateMoxW1−xTe2

Weyl semimetal MoxW1−xTe2 Ilya Belopolski∗,1, † Su-Yang Xu∗,1 Yukiaki Ishida∗,2 Xingchen Pan∗,3 Peng Yu∗,4 Daniel S. Sanchez, Madhab Neupane, Nasser Alidoust, Guoqing Chang, 7 Tay-Rong Chang, Yun Wu, Guang Bian, Hao Zheng, Shin-Ming Huang, 7, 10 Chi-Cheng Lee, 7 Daixiang Mou, Lunan Huang, You Song, Baigeng Wang, Guanghou Wang, Yao-Wen Yeh, Nan Yao, Julien E. Rault, Patrick Le Fèvre, François Bertran, Horng-Tay Jeng, 14 Takeshi Kondo, Adam Kaminski, Hsin Lin, 7 Zheng Liu, 15, 16, ‡ Fengqi Song, § Shik Shin, and M. Zahid Hasan 12, ¶ Laboratory for Topological Quantum Matter and Spectroscopy (B7), Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA The Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP), University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-no-ha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8581, Japan National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China Centre for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA Centre for Advanced 2D Materials and Graphene Research Centre, National University of Singapore, 6 Science Drive 2, 117546, Singapore Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, 117546, Singapore Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan Ames Laboratory, U.S. DOE and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA Department of Physics, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China Princeton Institute for Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08544, USA Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin-BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan NOVITAS, Nanoelectronics Centre of Excellence, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, 637553, Singapore (Dated: April 26, 2016)

Two-dimensional universal conductance fluctuations and the electron-phonon interaction of surface states in Bi2Te2Se microflakes

The universal conductance fluctuations (UCFs), one of the most important manifestations of mesoscopic electronic interference, have not yet been demonstrated for the two-dimensional surface state of topological insulators (TIs). Even if one delicately suppresses the bulk conductance by improving the quality of TI crystals, the fluctuation of the bulk conductance still keeps competitive and difficult to be separated from the desired UCFs of surface carriers. Here we report on the experimental evidence of the UCFs of the two-dimensional surface state in the bulk insulating Bi2Te2Se microflakes. The solely-B⊥-dependent UCF is achieved and its temperature dependence is investigated. The surface transport is further revealed by weak antilocalizations. Such survived UCFs of the surface states result from the limited dephasing length of the bulk carriers in ternary crystals. The electron-phonon interaction is addressed as a secondary source of the surface state dephasing based on the temperature-dependent scaling behavior.

Scaling dopant states in a semiconducting nanostructure by chemically resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy: a case study on Co-doped ZnO.

Dilute dopant introduces foreign states to the electronic structures of host semiconductors and imparts intriguing properties to the materials. Identifying and positioning the dopant states are of crucial importance for seeking the underlying mechanism in the doped systems. However, such determination has still been challenging, particularly for individual nanostructured materials, due to the lack of the spectroscopic probe that possesses both nanometer spatial resolution and chemical resolution. Here, we shall demonstrate the successful scaling of dopant states of individual semiconducting nanostructures by chemically resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), taking the individual Co-doped ZnO nanorods as an example. Guided by the Co dopant spatial distribution mapped by the core-loss EELS technique, chemical resolution is achieved in the accumulated valence electron energy-loss spectra. Three Co dopant states are successfully identified and positioned in the host ZnO bands. Furthermore, the electron extension degrees of the Co dopant states are assessed on the basis of the multiple-atom effect. The above experimental inputs optimize the density functional theoretical calculations, which generates the corrected full electronic structures of (Zn,Co)O dilute magnetic semiconductors. These results give a carrier-mediated interpretation for the room-temperature ferromagnetism of Co-doped ZnO nanostructures based on a recent theory.

Plume dynamics during film and nanoparticles deposition by pulsed laser ablation

The gas dynamics of pulsed laser ablation of silicon target in the helium gas ambient is investigated via direct simulation Monte Carlo method with a real physical scale of target-substrate configuration. A shock driven process is clearly observed. It is shown that the interaction of the shock front with the target surface and the vapor front induce significant backward flux of ablated particles and oscillating behavior of vapor front. A confined layer mixed with high density Si and He atoms is formed around the contact front. Its behavior is important to the nanoparticle formation and deposition.