Fast, multicolor photodetection with graphene-contacted p-GaSe/n-InSe van der Waals heterostructures.

The integration of different two-dimensional materials within a multilayer van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure offers a promising technology for high performance opto-electronic devices such as photodetectors and light sources. Here we report on the fabrication and electronic properties of vdW heterojunction diodes composed of the direct band gap layered semiconductors InSe and GaSe and transparent monolayer graphene electrodes. We show that the type II band alignment between the two layered materials and their distinctive spectral response, combined with the short channel length and low electrical resistance of graphene electrodes, enable efficient generation and extraction of photoexcited carriers from the heterostructure even when no external voltage is applied. Our devices are fast (∼2 µs), self-driven photodetectors with multicolor photoresponse ranging from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared and offer new routes to miniaturized optoelectronics beyond present semiconductor materials and technologies.

Charge trap memory based on few-layer black phosphorus.

Atomically thin layered two-dimensional materials, including transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) and black phosphorus (BP), have been receiving much attention, because of their promising physical properties and potential applications in flexible and transparent electronic devices. Here, for the first time we show nonvolatile charge-trap memory devices, based on field-effect transistors with large hysteresis, consisting of a few-layer black phosphorus channel and a three dimensional (3D) Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 charge-trap gate stack. An unprecedented memory window exceeding 12 V is observed, due to the extraordinary trapping ability of the high-k HfO2. The device shows a high endurance of over 120 cycles and a stable retention of ∼30% charge loss after 10 years, even lower than the reported MoS2 flash memory. The high program/erase current ratio, large memory window, stable retention and high on/off current ratio, provide a promising route towards flexible and transparent memory devices utilising atomically thin two-dimensional materials. The combination of 2D materials with traditional high-k charge-trap gate stacks opens up an exciting field of nonvolatile memory devices.

Strong enhancement of photoresponsivity with shrinking the electrodes spacing in few layer GaSe photodetectors.

A critical challenge for the integration of optoelectronics is that photodetectors have relatively poor sensitivities at the nanometer scale. Generally, a large electrodes spacing in photodetectors is required to absorb sufficient light to maintain high photoresponsivity and reduce the dark current. However, this will limit the optoelectronic integration density. Through spatially resolved photocurrent investigation, we find that the photocurrent in metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors based on layered GaSe is mainly generated from the region close to the metal-GaSe interface with higher electrical potential. The photoresponsivity monotonically increases with shrinking the spacing distance before the direct tunneling happens, which was significantly enhanced up to 5,000 AW(-1) for the bottom Ti/Au contacted device. It is more than 1,700-fold improvement over the previously reported results. The response time of the Ti/Au contacted devices is about 10-20 ms and reduced down to 270 µs for the devices with single layer graphene as metallic electrodes. A theoretical model has been developed to well explain the photoresponsivity for these two types of device configurations. Our findings realize reducing the size and improving the performance of 2D semiconductor based MSM photodetectors simultaneously, which could pave the way for future high density integration of optoelectronics with high performances.