All van der Waals Semiconducting PtSe2 Field Effect Transistors with Low Contact Resistance Graphite Electrodes.

Contact resistance is a multifaceted challenge faced by the 2D materials community. Large Schottky barrier heights and gap-state pinning are active obstacles that require an integrated approach to achieve the development of high-performance electronic devices based on 2D materials. In this work, we present semiconducting PtSe2 field effect transistors with all-van-der-Waals electrode and dielectric interfaces. We use graphite contacts, which enable high ION/IOFF ratios up to 109 with currents above 100 µA µm-1 and mobilities of 50 cm2 V-1 s-1 at room temperature and over 400 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 10 K. The devices exhibit high stability with a maximum hysteresis width below 36 mV nm-1. The contact resistance at the graphite-PtSe2 interface is found to be below 700 Ω µm. Our results present PtSe2 as a promising candidate for the realization of high-performance 2D circuits built solely with 2D materials.

ZnSe and ZnTe as tunnel barriers for Fe-based spin valves.

Owing to their use in the optoelectronic industry, we investigate whether ZnSe and ZnTe can be utilised as tunnel barrier materials in magnetic spin valves. We perform ab initio electronic structure and linear response transport calculations based on self-interaction-corrected density functional theory for both Fe/ZnSe/Fe and Fe/ZnTe/Fe junctions. In the Fe/ZnSe/Fe junction the transport is tunneling-like and a symmetry-filtering mechanism is at play, implying that only the majority spin electrons with Δ1 symmetry are transmitted with large probability, resulting in a potentially large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. As such, the transport characteristics are similar to those of the Fe/MgO/Fe junction, although the TMR ratio is lower for tunnel barriers of similar thickness due to the smaller bandgap of ZnSe as compared to that of MgO. In the Fe/ZnTe/Fe junction the Fermi level is pinned at the bottom of the conduction band of ZnTe and only a giant magnetoresistance effect is found. Our results provide evidence that chalcogenide-based tunnel barriers can be utilised in spintronics devices.

(LaCrO3) m /SrCrO3 superlattices as transparent p-type semiconductors with finite magnetization.

The electronic and magnetic properties of (LaCrO3) m /SrCrO3 superlattices are investigated using first principles calculations. We show that the magnetic moments in the two CrO2 layers sandwiching the SrO layer compensate each other for even m but give rise to a finite magnetization for odd m, which is explained by charge ordering with Cr3+ and Cr4+ ions arranged in a checkerboard pattern. The Cr4+ ions induce in-gap hole states at the interface, implying that the transparent superlattices are p-type semiconductors. The availability of transparent p-type semiconductors with finite magnetization enables the fabrication of transparent magnetic diodes and transistors, for example, with a multitude of potential technological applications.

Ti3 C2 Tx MXene van der Waals Gate Contact for GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors.

Gate controllability is a key factor that determines the performance of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). However, at the traditional metal-GaN interface, direct chemical interaction between metal and GaN can result in fixed charges and traps, which can significantly deteriorate the gate controllability. In this study, Ti3 C2 Tx MXene films are integrated into GaN HEMTs as the gate contact, wherein van der Waals heterojunctions are formed between MXene films and GaN without direct chemical bonding. The GaN HEMTs with enhanced gate controllability exhibit an extremely low off-state current (IOFF ) of 10-7 mA mm-1 , a record high ION /IOFF current ratio of ≈1013 (which is six orders of magnitude higher than conventional Ni/Au contact), a high off-state drain breakdown voltage of 1085 V, and a near-ideal subthreshold swing of 61 mV dec-1 . This work shows the great potential of MXene films as gate electrodes in wide-bandgap semiconductor devices.

Inducing Half-Metallicity in Monolayer MoSi2N4.

First-principles calculations are performed for the recently synthesized monolayer MoSi2N4 [Science 369, 670-674 (2020)]. We show that N vacancies are energetically favorable over Si vacancies, except for Fermi energies close to the conduction band edge in the N-rich environment, and induce half-metallicity. N and Si vacancies generate magnetic moments of 1.0 and 2.0 µB, respectively, with potential applications in spintronics. We also demonstrate that N and Si vacancies can be used to effectively engineer the work function.