Heterostructured graphene quantum dot/WSe2/Si photo-detector with suppressed dark current and improved detectivity

A high-performance heterojunction photodetector is formed by combining an n-type Si substrate with p-type monolayer WSe2 obtained using physical vapor deposition. The high quality of the WSe2/Si heterojunction is demonstrated by the suppressed dark current of I nA and the extremely high rectification ratio of 107. Under illumination, the heterojunction exhibits a wide photoresponse range from ultraviolet to near-infrared radiation. The introduction of graphene quantum dots （GQDs） greatly elevates the photodetective capabilities of the heterojunction with strong light absorption and long carrier lifetimes. The GQDs/WSe2/Si heterojunction exhibits a high responsivity of -707 mA·W^-1, short response time of 0.2 ms, and good specific detectivity of -4.51×10^9 Jones. These properties suggest that the GQDs/WSe2/Si heterojunction holds great potential for application in future high- performance photodetectors.

Application of chemical vapor-deposited monolayer ReSe2 in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Controlled synthesis of structurally anisotropic rhenium diselenide （ReSe2） with macroscopically uniform and strictly monolayer thickness as well as tunable domain shape/size is of great interest for electronics-, optoelectronics-, and electrocatalysis-related applications. Herein, we describe the controlled synthesis of uniform monolayer ReSe2 flakes with variable morphology （sunflower- or truncated-triangle-shaped） on SiO2/Si substrates using different ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition （CVD） setups. The prepared polycrystalline ReSe2 flakes were transferred intact onto Au foil electrodes and tested for activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction （HER）. Interestingly, compared to the compact truncated-triangle-shaped ReSe2 flakes, their edge-abundant sunflower-shaped counterparts exhibited superior electrocatalytic HER activity, featuring a relatively low Tafel slope of - 76 mV/dec and an exchange current density of 10.5 μA/cm2. Thus, our work demonstrates that CVD-grown ReSe2 is a promising two- dimensional anisotropic material for applications in the electrocatalytic HER.

Transformation of monolayer MoS2 into multiphasic MoTe2： Chalcogen atom-exchange synthesis route

Molybdenum ditelluride （MoTe2）, which is an important transition-metal dichalcogenide, has attracted considerable interest owing to its unique properties, such as its small bandgap and large Seebeck coefficient. However, the batch production of monolayer MoTe2 has been rarely reported. In this study, we demonstrate the synthesis of large-domain （edge length exceeding 30 μm）, monolayer MoTe2 from chemical vapor deposition-grown monolayer MoS2 using a chalcogen atom-exchange synthesis route. An in-depth investigation of the tellurization process reveals that the substitution of S atoms by Te is prevalently initiated at the edges and grain boundaries of the monolayer MoS2, which differs from the homogeneous selenization of MoS2 flakes with the formation of alloyed Mo-S-Se hybrids. Moreover, we detect a large compressive strain （approximately -10%） in the transformed MoTe2 lattice, which possibly drives the phase transition from 2H to 1T＇ at the reaction temperature of 500 ℃. This phase change is substantiated by experimental facts and first-principles calculations. This work introduces a novel route for the templated synthesis of two-dimensional layered materials through atom substitutional chemistry and provides a new pathway for engineering the strain and thus the intriguing physics and chemistry.

Quasi-freestanding, striped WS2 monolayer with an invariable band gap on Au（001）

Revealing the structural/electronic features and interfacial interactions of monolayer MoS2 and WS2 on metals is essential to evaluating the performance of related devices.In this study,we focused on the atomic-scale features of monolayer WS2 on Au（001） synthesized via chemical vapor deposition.Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy reveal that the WS2/Au（001） system exhibits a striped superstructure similar to that of MoS2/Au（001） but weaker interfacial interactions,as evidenced by experimental and theoretical investigations.Specifically,the WS2/Au（001） band gap exhibits a relatively intrinsic value of ～ 2.0 eV.However,the band gap can gradually decrease to ～ 1.5 eV when the sample annealing temperature increases from ～370 to 720 ℃.In addition,the doping level （or Fermi energy） of monolayer WS2/Au（001） varies little over the valley and ridge regions of the striped patterns because of the homogenous distributions of point defects introduced by annealing.Briefly,this work provides an in-depth investigation into the interfacial interactions and electronic properties of monolayer MX2 on metal substrates.