Pressure-Induced Charge Transfer Doping of Monolayer Graphene/MoS2 Heterostructure.

A unique way of achieving controllable, pressure-induced charge transfer doping in the graphene/MoS2 heterostructure is proposed. The charge transfer causes an upward shift in the Dirac point with respect to Fermi level at a rate of 15.7 meV GPa(-1) as a function of applied hydrostatic pressure, leading to heavy p-type doping in graphene. The doping was confirmed by I2D /IG measurements.

Pressure-dependent optical and vibrational properties of monolayer molybdenum disulfide.

Controlling the band gap by tuning the lattice structure through pressure engineering is a relatively new route for tailoring the optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials. Here, we investigate the electronic structure and lattice vibrational dynamics of the distorted monolayer 1T-MoS2 (1T') and the monolayer 2H-MoS2 via a diamond anvil cell (DAC) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The direct optical band gap of the monolayer 2H-MoS2 increases by 11.7% from 1.85 to 2.08 eV, which is the highest reported for a 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material. DFT calculations reveal a subsequent decrease in the band gap with eventual metallization of the monolayer 2H-MoS2, an overall complex structure-property relation due to the rich band structure of MoS2. Remarkably, the metastable 1T'-MoS2 metallic state remains invariant with pressure, with the J2, A1g, and E2g modes becoming dominant at high pressures. This substantial reversible tunability of the electronic and vibrational properties of the MoS2 family can be extended to other 2D TMDs. These results present an important advance toward controlling the band structure and optoelectronic properties of monolayer MoS2 via pressure, which has vital implications for enhanced device applications.

Pressure-Modulated Conductivity, Carrier Density, and Mobility of Multilayered Tungsten Disulfide.

Tungsten disulfide (WS2) is a layered transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) that differs from other two-dimensional (2D) compounds such as graphene due to its unique semiconducting, tunable-band-gap nature. Multilayered WS2 exhibits an indirect band gap Eg of ∼1.3 eV, along with a higher load-bearing ability that is promising for strain-tuning device applications, but the electronic properties of multilayered WS2 at higher strain conditions (i.e., static strain >12%) remain an open question. Here we have studied the structural, electronic, electrical, and vibrational properties of multilayered WS2 at hydrostatic pressures up to ∼35 GPa experimentally in a diamond anvil cell and theoretically using first-principles ab initio calculations. Our results show that WS2 undergoes an isostructural semiconductor-to-metallic (S-M) transition at approximately 22 GPa at 280 K, which arises from the overlap of the highest valence and lowest conduction bands. The S-M transition is caused by increased sulfur-sulfur interactions as the interlayer spacing decreases with applied hydrostatic pressure. The metalization in WS2 can be alternatively interpreted as a 2D to 3D (three-dimensional) phase transition that is associated with a substantial modulation of the charge carrier characteristics including a 6-order decrease in resistivity, a 2-order decrease in mobility, and a 4-order increase in carrier concentration. These distinct pressure-tunable characteristics of the dimensionalized WS2 differentiate it from other TMD compounds such as MoS2 and promise future developments in strain-modulated advanced devices.