Ming-Yang Li

Probing Critical Point Energies of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Surprising Indirect Gap of Single Layer WSe2

By using a comprehensive form of scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we have revealed detailed quasi-particle electronic structures in transition metal dichalcogenides, including the quasi-particle gaps, critical point energy locations, and their origins in the Brillouin zones. We show that single layer WSe2 surprisingly has an indirect quasi-particle gap with the conduction band minimum located at the Q-point (instead of K), albeit the two states are nearly degenerate. We have further observed rich quasi-particle electronic structures of transition metal dichalcogenides as a function of atomic structures and spin-orbit couplings. Such a local probe for detailed electronic structures in conduction and valence bands will be ideal to investigate how electronic structures of transition metal dichalcogenides are influenced by variations of local environment.

Characteristics of a sensitive micro-Hall probe fabricated on chemical vapor deposited graphene over the temperature range from liquid-helium to room temperature

We have investigated the transport and noise properties of a micron-sized Hall probe, fabricated on chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene, from 300 K to 4.2 K. The field sensitivity of the Hall probe was tunable within ∼0.031-0.12 Ω/G, while the field resolution could reach ∼0.43-0.09 G/Hz1/2 at room temperature. The characteristics of graphene Hall probes (GHPs) were found to be comparable to present Hall sensors. Our results indicate that the fundamental limitation of the field sensitivity and the field resolution are respectively restricted by intrinsic and extrinsic defects. Our study paves the way for the use of CVD GHPs for scanning Hall probe with high field sensitivity and submicron spatial resolution at room temperature.

Highly Flexible and High-Performance Complementary Inverters of Large-Area Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers

Complementary inverters constructed from large-area monolayers of WSe2 and MoS2 achieve excellent logic swings and yield an extremely high gain, large total noise margin, low power consumption, and good switching speed. Moreover, the WSe2 complementary-like inverters built on plastic substrates exhibit high mechanical stability. The results provide a path toward large-area flexible electronics.

Single Atomically Sharp Lateral Monolayer p-n Heterojunction Solar Cells with Extraordinarily High Power Conversion Efficiency

The recent development of 2D monolayer lateral semiconductor has created new paradigm to develop p-n heterojunctions. Albeit, the growth methods of these heterostructures typically result in alloy structures at the interface, limiting the development for high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Here, the PV properties of sequentially grown alloy-free 2D monolayer WSe2 -MoS2 lateral p-n heterojunction are explores. The PV devices show an extraordinary power conversion efficiency of 2.56% under AM 1.5G illumination. The large surface active area enables the full exposure of the depletion region, leading to excellent omnidirectional light harvesting characteristic with only 5% reduction of efficiency at incident angles up to 75°. Modeling studies demonstrate the PV devices comply with typical principles, increasing the feasibility for further development. Furthermore, the appropriate electrode-spacing design can lead to environment-independent PV properties. These robust PV properties deriving from the atomically sharp lateral p-n interface can help develop the next-generation photovoltaics.

Utilizing Sub-5 nm sidewall electrode technology for atomic-scale resistive memory fabrication

A sidewall electrode technology was successfully developed for the first time in this study, improving the understanding of the working mechanism in an ultra small, functional HfO₂-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) device (<; 1 × 3 nm²). This technology exhibits potential for application in atomic-scale memories. The 1 × 3 nm² RRAM device exhibited an excellent performance, featuring a high endurance of more than 10⁴ cycles, a large on/off verified window (>100), and reasonable reliability (stress time > 10³ s, 2 × 10⁴ h at 250 °C). Furthermore, the 1 × 3 nm² RRAM device exhibited distinctive unipolar behavior when a high voltage and rapid switching operation (7 V, 50 ns) were applied, and a switching mechanism model is proposed.

Graphene-GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs heterostructure dual-function field-effect transistor

We have integrated chemical vapor-deposited graphene and GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs heterostructure into a hybrid field effect transistor (FET). Depending on the operation scheme, graphene can be utilized either as a gate electrode for a GaAs-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) or as a channel material gated by two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in the interface of a heterojunction. Our studies reveal that 2DEG can function as an effective back-electrode to tune the ambipolar effect of graphene. The performance of graphene FET (GFET) is limited by the interface band bending of the heterojunction associated with the gating voltages and the intrinsic surface morphology of GaAs substrate. Our results bode a way to implement HEMT/GEFT-based bi-FET integrated circuits.

Defect Structure of Localized Excitons in a WSe2 Monolayer

The atomic and electronic structure of intrinsic defects in a WSe_{2} monolayer grown on graphite was revealed by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Instead of chalcogen vacancies that prevail in other transition metal dichalcogenide materials, intrinsic defects in WSe_{2} arise surprisingly from single tungsten vacancies, leading to the hole (p-type) doping. Furthermore, we found these defects to dominate the excitonic emission of the WSe_{2} monolayer at low temperature. Our work provided the first atomic-scale understanding of defect excitons and paved the way toward deciphering the defect structure of single quantum emitters previously discovered in the WSe_{2} monolayer.

Sub-nanometre channels embedded in two-dimensional materials

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most promising candidates for next-generation electronics due to their atomic thinness, allowing for flexible transparent electronics and ultimate length scaling1. Thus far, atomically thin p-n junctions2,3,4,5,6,7,8, metal-semiconductor contacts9,10,11, and metal-insulator barriers12,13,14 have been demonstrated. Although 2D materials achieve the thinnest possible devices, precise nanoscale control over the lateral dimensions is also necessary. Here, we report the direct synthesis of sub-nanometre-wide one-dimensional (1D) MoS2 channels embedded within WSe2 monolayers, using a dislocation-catalysed approach. The 1D channels have edges free of misfit dislocations and dangling bonds, forming a coherent interface with the embedding 2D matrix. Periodic dislocation arrays produce 2D superlattices of coherent MoS2 1D channels in WSe2. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we have identified other combinations of 2D materials where 1D channels can also be formed. The electronic band structure of these 1D channels offers the promise of carrier confinement in a direct-gap material and the charge separation needed to access the ultimate length scales necessary for future electronic applications.Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most promising candidates for next-generation electronics due to their atomic thinness, allowing for flexible transparent electronics and ultimate length scaling. Thus far, atomically thin p-n junctions, metal-semiconductor contacts, and metal-insulator barriers have been demonstrated. Although 2D materials achieve the thinnest possible devices, precise nanoscale control over the lateral dimensions is also necessary. Here, we report the direct synthesis of sub-nanometre-wide one-dimensional (1D) MoS2 channels embedded within WSe2 monolayers, using a dislocation-catalysed approach. The 1D channels have edges free of misfit dislocations and dangling bonds, forming a coherent interface with the embedding 2D matrix. Periodic dislocation arrays produce 2D superlattices of coherent MoS2 1D channels in WSe2. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we have identified other combinations of 2D materials where 1D channels can also be formed. The electronic band structure of these 1D channels offers the promise of carrier confinement in a direct-gap material and the charge separation needed to access the ultimate length scales necessary for future electronic applications.

Ultrafast dynamics of hot electrons and phonons in chemical vapor deposited graphene

The relaxation dynamics of photoexcited carriers in a chemical vapor deposited graphene transferred on quartz substrate has been investigated by using ultrafast optical-pump terahertz (THz)-probe spectroscopy. Terahertz transmission through graphene sample is reduced by optical pumping. The change of transmission decays exponentially after the optical pulse. We find the relaxation time is insensitive to the substrate temperature from 10 K to 300 K but increases sublinearly with pump fluence. We model the relaxation process involving electron-phonon coupling together with a set of rate equations to describe the transient responses of quasi-particles and optical phonons. The increases of the extracted carrier temperature and the measured relaxation time with pump fluence are associated with the fact that high pump fluence significantly increases the carrier temperature and broadens the carrier distribution. As a result, it leads to the reduction of optical phonon emission efficiency and the decrease of cool...

Electronic Properties of a 1D Intrinsic/p-Doped Heterojunction in a 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Semiconductor

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors offer a convenient platform to study 2D physics, for example, to understand doping in an atomically thin semiconductor. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication and unravel the electronic properties of a lateral doped/intrinsic heterojunction in a single-layer (SL) tungsten diselenide (WSe2), a prototype semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), partially covered with a molecular acceptor layer, on a graphite substrate. With combined experiments and theoretical modeling, we reveal the fundamental acceptor-induced p-doping mechanism for SL-WSe2. At the 1D border between the doped and undoped SL-WSe2 regions, we observe band bending and explain it by Thomas-Fermi screening. Using atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, the screening length is determined to be in the few nanometer range, and we assess the carrier density of intrinsic SL-WSe2. These findings are of fundamental and technological importance for understanding and employing surface doping, for example, in designing lateral organic TMD heterostructures for future devices.