Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interlayer coupling effect in van der Waals heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Van der Waals (vdW) heterobilayers formed by two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) created a promising platform for various electronic and optical properties, ab initio band results indicate that the band offset of type-II band alignment in TMDCs vdW heterobilayer could be tuned by introducing Janus WSSe monolayer, instead of an external electric field. On the basis of symmetry analysis, the allowed interlayer hopping channels of TMDCs vdW heterobilayer were determined, and a four-level k·p model was developed to obtain the interlayer hopping. Results indicate that the interlayer coupling strength could be tuned by interlayer electric polarization featured by various band offsets. Moreover, the difference in the formation mechanism of interlayer valley excitons in different TMDCs vdW heterobilayers with various interlayer hopping strength was also clarified.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. K. Mak and J. Shan, Photonics and optoelectronics of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides, Nat. Photonics 10(4), 216 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. J. R. Schaibley, H. Yu, G. Clark, P. Rivera, J. S. Ross, K. L. Seyler, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Valleytronics in 2D materials, Nat. Rev. Mater. 1(11), 16055 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. X. Xu, W. Yao, D. Xiao, and T. F. Heinz, Spin and pseudospins in layered transition metal dichalcogenides, Nat. Phys. 10(5), 343 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. H. Zeng, J. Dai, W. Yao, D. Xiao, and X. Cui, Valley polarization in MoS2 monolayers by optical pumping, Nat. Nanotechnol. 7(8), 490 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. C. Robert, D. Lagarde, F. Cadiz, G. Wang, B. Lassagne, T. Amand, A. Balocchi, P. Renucci, S. Tongay, B. Urbaszek, and X. Marie, Exciton radiative lifetime in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers, Phys. Rev. B 93(20), 205423 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. G. Moody, C. Kavir Dass, K. Hao, C.H. Chen, L.J. Li, A. Singh, K. Tran, G. Clark, X. Xu, G. Berghäuser, E. Malic, A. Knorr, and X. Li, Intrinsic homogeneous linewidth and broadening mechanisms of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, Nat. Commun. 6(1), 8315 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. C. Mai, A. Barrette, Y. Yu, Y. G. Semenov, K. W. Kim, L. Cao, and K. Gundogdu, Many-body effects in valleytronics: Direct measurement of valley lifetimes in single-layer MoS2, Nano Lett. 14(1), 202 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. A. Singh, K. Tran, M. Kolarczik, J. Seifert, Y. Wang, K. Hao, D. Pleskot, N. M. Gabor, S. Helmrich, N. Owschimikow, U. Woggon, and X. Li, Long-lived valley polarization of intravalley trions in monolayer WSe2, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117(25), 257402 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. H. Yu, X. Cui, X. Xu, and W. Yao, Valley excitons in two-dimensional semiconductors, Natl. Sci. Rev. 2(1), 57 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. A. M. Jones, H. Yu, J. S. Ross, P. Klement, N. J. Ghimire, J. Yan, D. G. Mandrus, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Spin-layer locking effects in optical orientation of exciton spin in bilayer WSe2, Nat. Phys. 10(2), 130 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. P. Rivera, J. R. Schaibley, A. M. Jones, J. S. Ross, S. Wu, G. Aivazian, P. Klement, K. Seyler, G. Clark, N. J. Ghimire, J. Yan, D. G. Mandrus, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Observation of long-lived interlayer excitons in monolayer MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructures, Nat. Commun. 6(1), 6242 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. L. A. Jauregui, A. Y. Joe, K. Pistunova, D. S. Wild, A. A. High, Y. Zhou, G. Scuri, K. De Greve, A. Sushko, C. H. Yu, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, D. J. Needleman, M. D. Lukin, H. Park, and P. Kim, Electrical control of interlayer exciton dynamics in atomically thin heterostructures, Science 366(6467), 870 (2019)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Z. Wang, Y. H. Chiu, K. Honz, K. F. Mak, and J. Shan, Electrical tuning of interlayer exciton gases in WSe2 bilayers, Nano Lett. 18(1), 137 (2018)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. I. Paradisanos, S. Shree, A. George, N. Leisgang, C. Robert, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, R. J. Warburton, A. Turchanin, X. Marie, I. C. Gerber, and B. Urbaszek, Controlling interlayer excitons in MoS2 layers grown by chemical vapor deposition, Nat. Commun. 11(1), 2391 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. W. Yao, D. Xiao, and Q. Niu, Valley-dependent optoelectronics from inversion symmetry breaking, Phys. Rev. B 77(23), 235406 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. D. Xiao, W. Yao, and Q. Niu, Valley-contrasting physics in graphene: Magnetic moment and topological transport, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99(23), 236809 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. S. Wu, J. S. Ross, G. B. Liu, G. Aivazian, A. Jones, Z. Fei, W. Zhu, D. Xiao, W. Yao, D. Cobden, and X. Xu, Electrical tuning of valley magnetic moment through symmetry control in bilayer MoS2, Nat. Phys. 9(3), 149 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. X. Hong, J. Kim, S. F. Shi, Y. Zhang, C. Jin, Y. Sun, S. Tongay, J. Wu, Y. Zhang, and F. Wang, Ultrafast charge transfer in atomically thin MoS2/WS2 heterostructures, Nat. Nanotechnol. 9(9), 682 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. P. Rivera, J. R. Schaibley, A. M. Jones, J. S. Ross, S. Wu, G. Aivazian, P. Klement, K. Seyler, G. Clark, N. J. Ghimire, J. Yan, D. G. Mandrus, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Observation of long-lived interlayer excitons in monolayer MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructures, Nat. Commun. 6(1), 6242 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. P. Rivera, K. L. Seyler, H. Yu, J. R. Schaibley, J. Yan, D. G. Mandrus, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Valley-polarized exciton dynamics in a 2D semiconductor heterostructure, Science 351(6274), 688 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. S. Gao, L. Yang, and C. D. Spataru, Interlayer coupling and gate-tunable excitons in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures, Nano Lett. 17(12), 7809 (2017)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. P. Rivera, H. Yu, K. L. Seyler, N. P. Wilson, W. Yao, and X. Xu, Interlayer valley excitons in heterobilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides, Nat. Nanotechnol. 13(11), 1004 (2018)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. W. T. Hsu, B. H. Lin, L. S. Lu, M. H. Lee, M. W. Chu, L. J. Li, W. Yao, W. H. Chang, and C. K. Shih, Tailoring excitonic states of van der Waals bilayers through stacking configuration, band alignment, and valley spin, Sci. Adv. 5(12), eaax7407 (2019)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. G. Kresse and J. Furthmüller, Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set, Phys. Rev. B 54(16), 11169 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. J. P. Perdew, K. Burke, and M. Ernzerhof, Generalized gradient approximation made simple, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77(18), 3865 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. G. Kresse and D. Joubert, From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method, Phys. Rev. B 59(3), 1758 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. H. J. Monkhorst and J. D. Pack, Special points for Brillouin-zone integrations, Phys. Rev. B 13(12), 5188 (1976)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. G. Graziano, J. Klimes, F. Fernandez-Alonso, and A. Michaelides, Improved description of soft layered materials with van der Waals density functional theory, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24(42), 424216 (2012)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. G. B. Liu, D. Xiao, Y. Yao, X. Xu, and W. Yao, Electronic structures and theoretical modelling of two-dimensional group-VIB transition metal dichalcogenides, Chem. Soc. Rev. 44(9), 2643 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Q. Tong, H. Yu, Q. Zhu, Y. Wang, X. Xu, and W. Yao, Topological mosaics in moiré superlattices of van der Waals heterobilayers, Nat. Phys. 13(4), 356 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Z. Gong, G. B. Liu, H. Yu, D. Xiao, X. Cui, X. Xu, and W. Yao, Magnetoelectric effects and valley-controlled spin quantum gates in transition metal dichalcogenides bilayers, Nat. Commun. 4(1), 2053 (2013)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. W. T. Hsu, B. H. Lin, L. S. Lu, M. H. Lee, M. W. Chu, L. J. Li, W. Yao, W. H. Chang, and C. K. Shih, Tailoring excitonic states of van der Waals bilayers through stacking configuration, band alignment, and valley spin, Sci. Adv. 5(12), eaax7407 (2019)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51872170), Young Scholars Program of Shandong University (YSPSDU), Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program (Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Project) (No. 2019JZZY010302), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2019MEM013), and Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Yuan-Yuan Wang, Feng-Ping Li, Wei Wei, Bai-Biao Huang & Ying Dai

Authors
  1. Yuan-Yuan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Feng-Ping Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bai-Biao Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ying Dai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wei Wei or Ying Dai.

Additional information

arXiv: 2009.01394.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, YY., Li, FP., Wei, W. et al. Interlayer coupling effect in van der Waals heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides. Front. Phys. 16, 13501 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-020-0991-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-020-0991-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation