Yunzhou Xue

Two-Dimensional CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite: Synthesis and Optoelectronic Application

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials have received substantial research attention due to their impressively high performance in photovoltaic devices. As one of the oldest functional materials, it is intriguing to explore the optoelectronic properties in perovskite after reducing it into a few atomic layers in which two-dimensional (2D) confinement may get involved. In this work, we report a combined solution process and vapor-phase conversion method to synthesize 2D hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (i.e., CH3NH3PbI3) nanocrystals as thin as a single unit cell (∼1.3 nm). High-quality 2D perovskite crystals have triangle and hexagonal shapes, exhibiting tunable photoluminescence while the thickness or composition is changed. Due to the high quantum efficiency and excellent photoelectric properties in 2D perovskites, a high-performance photodetector was demonstrated, in which the current can be enhanced significantly by shining 405 and 532 nm lasers, showing photoresponsivities of 22 and 12 AW(-1) with a voltage bias of 1 V, respectively. The excellent optoelectronic properties make 2D perovskites building blocks to construct 2D heterostructures for wider optoelectronic applications.

Scalable Production of a Few-Layer MoS2/WS2 Vertical Heterojunction Array and Its Application for Photodetectors.

Vertical heterojunctions of two two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable attention recently. A variety of heterojunctions can be constructed by stacking different TMDs to form fundamental building blocks in different optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes. However, these applications are significantly hampered by the challenges of large-scale production of van der Waals stacks of atomically thin materials. Here, we demonstrate scalable production of periodic patterns of few-layer WS2, MoS2, and their vertical heterojunction arrays by a thermal reduction sulfurization process. In this method, a two-step chemical vapor deposition approach was developed to effectively prevent the phase mixing of TMDs in an unpredicted manner, thus affording a well-defined interface between WS2 and MoS2 in the vertical dimension. As a result, large-scale, periodic arrays of few-layer WS2, MoS2, and their vertical heterojunctions can be produced with desired size and density. Photodetectors based on the as-produced MoS2/WS2 vertical heterojunction arrays were fabricated, and a high photoresponsivity of 2.3 A·W(-1) at an excitation wavelength of 450 nm was demonstrated. Flexible photodetector devices using MoS2/WS2 heterojunction arrays were also demonstrated with reasonable signal/noise ratio. The approach in this work is also applicable to other TMD materials and can open up the possibilities of producing a variety of vertical van der Waals heterojunctions in a large scale toward optoelectronic applications.

Highly responsive MoS2 photodetectors enhanced by graphene quantum dots

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), which is a typical semiconductor from the family of layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), is an attractive material for optoelectronic and photodetection applications because of its tunable bandgap and high quantum luminescence efficiency. Although a high photoresponsivity of 880–2000u2009AW−1 and photogain up to 5000 have been demonstrated in MoS2-based photodetectors, the light absorption and gain mechanisms are two fundamental issues preventing these materials from further improvement. In addition, it is still debated whether monolayer or multilayer MoS2 could deliver better performance. Here, we demonstrate a photoresponsivity of approximately 104 AW−1 and a photogain of approximately 107 electrons per photon in an n-n heterostructure photodetector that consists of a multilayer MoS2 thin film covered with a thin layer of graphene quantum dots (GQDs). The enhanced light-matter interaction results from effective charge transfer and the re-absorption of photons, leading to enhanced light absorption and the creation of electron-hole pairs. It is feasible to scale up the device and obtain a fast response, thus making it one step closer to practical applications.

Graphene surface plasmons at the near-infrared optical regime

Graphene has been identified as an emerging horizon for a nanoscale photonic platform because the Fermi level of intrinsic graphene can be engineered to support surface plasmons (SPs). The current solid back electrical gating and chemical doping methods cannot facilitate the demonstration of graphene SPs at the near-infrared (NIR) window because of the limited shift of the Fermi level. Here, we present the evidence for the existence of graphene SPs on a tapered graphene-silicon waveguide tip at a NIR wavelength, employing a surface carrier transfer method with molybdenum trioxides. The coupling between the graphene surface plasmons and the guiding mode in silicon waveguides allows for the observation of the concentrated field of the SPs in the tip by near-field scanning optical microscopy. Thus the hot spot from the concentrated SPs in the graphene layer can be used as a key experimental signature of graphene SPs. The NIR graphene SPs opens a new perspective for optical communications, optical sensing and imaging, and optical data storage with extreme spatial confinement, broad bandwidth and high tunability.

Reversible Structural Swell–Shrink and Recoverable Optical Properties in Hybrid Inorganic–Organic Perovskite

Ion migration in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites has been suggested to be an important factor for many unusual behaviors in perovskite-based optoelectronics, such as current-voltage hysteresis, low-frequency giant dielectric response, and the switchable photovoltaic effect. However, the role played by ion migration in the photoelectric conversion process of perovskites is still unclear. In this work, we provide microscale insights into the influence of ion migration on the microstructure, stability, and light-matter interaction in perovskite micro/nanowires by using spatially resolved optical characterization techniques. We observed that ion migration, especially the migration of MA(+) ions, will induce a reversible structural swell-shrink in perovskites and recoverably affect the reflective index, quantum efficiency, light-harvesting, and photoelectric properties. The maximum ion migration quantity in perovskites was as high as approximately 30%, resulting in lattice swell or shrink of approximately 4.4%. Meanwhile, the evidence shows that ion migration in perovskites could gradually accelerate the aging of perovskites because of lattice distortion in the reversible structural swell-shrink process. Knowledge regarding reversible structural swell-shrink and recoverable optical properties may shed light on the development of optoelectronic and converse piezoelectric devices based on perovskites.

Wavelength-tunable waveguides based on polycrystalline organic–inorganic perovskite microwires

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have emerged as new photovoltaic materials with impressively high power conversion efficiency due to their high optical absorption coefficient and long charge carrier diffusion length. In addition to high photoluminescence quantum efficiency and chemical tunability, hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites also show intriguing potential for diverse photonic applications. In this work, we demonstrate that polycrystalline organic-inorganic perovskite microwires can function as active optical waveguides with small propagation loss. The successful production of high quality perovskite microwires with different halogen elements enables the guiding of light with different colours. Furthermore, it is interesting to find that out-coupled light intensity from the microwire can be effectively modulated by an external electric field, which behaves as an electro-optical modulator. This finding suggests the promising applications of perovskite microwires as effective building blocks in micro/nano scale photonic circuits.

Atomically thin lateral p-n junction photodetector with large effective detection area

The widely used photodetector design based on atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has a lateral metal-TMD-metal junction with a fairly small, line shape photoresponsive active area at the TMD-electrode interface. Here, we report a highly efficient photodetector with extremely large photoresponsive active area based on a lateral junction of monolayer-bilayer WSe2. Impressively, the separation of the electron–hole pairs (excitons) extends onto the whole 1L–2L WSe2 junction surface. The responsivity of the WSe2 junction photodetector is over 3200 times higher than that of a monolayer WSe2 device and leads to a highest external quantum efficiency of 256% due to the efficient carrier extraction. Unlike the TMD p–n junctions modulated by dual gates or localized doping, which require complex fabrication procedures, our study establishes a simple, controllable, and scalable method to improve the photodetection performance by maximizing the active area for current generation.

Growth of large-area atomically thin MoS 2 film via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition

Atomically thin MoS2 films have attracted significant attention due to excellent electrical and optical properties. The development of device applications demands the production of large-area thin film which is still an obstacle. In this work we developed a facile method to directly grow large-area MoS2 thin film on SiO2 substrate via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition method. The characterizations by spectroscopy and electron microscopy reveal that the as-grown MoS2 film is mainly bilayer and trilayer with high quality. Back-gate field-effect transistor based on such MoS2 thin film shows carrier mobility up to 3.4u2009u2009cm2u2009u2009V−1u2009u2009s−1 and on/off ratio of 105. The large-area atomically thin MoS2 prepared in this work has the potential for wide optoelectronic and photonic device applications.