A novel crystal configuration of sandwiched S-Mo-Se structure (Janus SMoSe) at the monolayer limit has been synthesized and carefully characterized in this work. By controlled sulfurization of monolayer MoSe2 the top layer of selenium atoms are substituted by sulfur atoms while the bottom selenium layer remains intact. The peculiar structure of this new material is systematically investigated by Raman, photoluminescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and confirmed by transmission-electron microscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Density-functional theory calculations are performed to better understand the Raman vibration modes and electronic structures of the Janus SMoSe monolayer, which are found to correlate well with corresponding experimental results. Finally, high basal plane hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity is discovered for the Janus monolayer and DFT calculation implies that the activity originates from the synergistic effect of the intrinsic defects and structural strain inherent in the Janus structure.

Janus Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

The last decade has witnessed significant advances in energy harvesting technologies as a possible alternative to provide a continuous power supply for small, low-power devices in applications, such as wireless sensing, data transmission, actuation, and medical implants. Piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) has been a salient topic in the literature and has attracted widespread attention from researchers due to its advantages of simple architecture, high power density, and good scalability. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of piezoelectric energy harvesting. Various key aspects to improve the overall performance of a PEH device are discussed, including basic fundamentals and configurations, materials and fabrication, performance enhancement mechanisms, applications, and future outlooks.

A comprehensive review on piezoelectric energy harvesting technology: Materials, mechanisms, and applications

The subject of thermal transport at the mesoscopic scale and in low-dimensional systems is interesting for both fundamental research and practical applications. As the first example of truly two-dimensional materials, graphene has exceptionally high thermal conductivity, and thus provides an ideal platform for the research. Here we review recent studies on thermal and thermoelectric properties of graphene, with an emphasis on experimental progresses. A general physical picture based on the Landauer transport formalism is introduced to understand underlying mechanisms. We show that the superior thermal conductivity of graphene is contributed not only by large ballistic thermal conductance but also by very long phonon mean free path (MFP). The long phonon MFP, explained by the low-dimensional nature and high sample purity of graphene, results in important isotope effects and size effects on thermal conduction. In terms of various scattering mechanisms in graphene, several approaches are suggested to control thermal conductivity. Among them, introducing rough boundaries and weakly-coupled interfaces are promising ways to suppress thermal conduction effectively. We also discuss the Seebeck effect of graphene. Graphene itself might not be a good thermoelectric material. However, the concepts developed by graphene research might be applied to improve thermoelectric performance of other materials.

Thermal and Thermoelectric Properties of Graphene

Midinfrared (MIR), which covers numerous molecular vibrational fingerprints, has attracted enormous research interest due to its promising potential for label-free and damage-free sensing. Despite intense development efforts, the realization of waveguide-integrated on-chip sensing system has seen very limited success to date. The huge lattice mismatch between silicon and the commonly used detection materials such as HgCdTe, III–V, or II–VI compounds has been the key bottleneck that hinders their integration. Here, we realize an integration of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides with black phosphorus (BP) photodetectors. When operating near BP’s cutoff wavelength where absorption is weak, the light–BP interaction is enhanced by exploiting the optical confinement in the Si waveguide and grating structure to overcome the limitation of absorption length constrained by the BP thickness. Devices with different BP crystal orientation and thickness are compared in terms of their responsivity and noise equivalen...

Waveguide-Integrated Black Phosphorus Photodetector for Mid-Infrared Applications

Two-dimensional crystals have emerged as a class of materials that may impact future electronic technologies. Experimentally identifying and characterizing new functional two-dimensional materials is challenging, but also potentially rewarding. Here, we fabricate field-effect transistors based on few-layer black phosphorus crystals with thickness down to a few nanometres. Reliable transistor performance is achieved at room temperature in samples thinner than 7.5 nm, with drain current modulation on the order of 10(5) and well-developed current saturation in the I-V characteristics. The charge-carrier mobility is found to be thickness-dependent, with the highest values up to ∼ 1,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) obtained for a thickness of ∼ 10 nm. Our results demonstrate the potential of black phosphorus thin crystals as a new two-dimensional material for applications in nanoelectronic devices.

http://absimage.aps.org/image/MAR14/MWS_MAR14-2013-005031.pdf

Black Phosphorus Field-effect Transistors

Two-dimensional heterostructures for photocatalytic water splitting: a review of recent progress

Possessing long-range FM order and tunable interlayer magnetic coupling, extensive investigations of monolayered ferromagnetic chromium triiodide (CrI3) have been developed. In this work, by means of first-principles simulation, we systematically calculated the electronic and magnetic characteristic of two-dimensional (2D) CrI3 adsorbed by gas molecules, CO, H2, H2O and N2, which can provide theoretical guidance to modulate the desired properties of this layered material. The results show that the adsorption of those gas molecules can significantly enhance FM couplings of monolayer CrI3. In particular, the N2 adsorption can remarkably improve the Curie temperatures of the pristine CrI3 monolayer by about 2.6 times. We also hope that our findings can provide more interest around the recently studied 2D FM semiconductors.

Remarkably improved Curie temperature for two-dimensional CrI3 by gas molecular adsorption: a DFT study

This letter proposes a three-dimensional piezoelectric energy harvester (3D PEH) that enables energy scavenging from vibrations in arbitrary directions. The proposed harvester comprises a spring, a primary beam, an inner beam, and two magnetic masses. The beams capture vibrations along their surface normal directions, and the spring, which acts as a mechanical energy buffer, is used to sense vibrations that occur parallel to the length direction of the inner beam. Magnetic coupling is introduced to perform frequency up-conversion and thus transfer vibration energy from the inner beam to the primary beam. As a benefit of the proposed structure, the 3D PEH can sense and convert all vibration energies occurring within the 3D space. When compared with use of the same beams in a linear configuration, the peak voltage of the proposed configuration is more than 3 V, and the bandwidths of voltages exceeding 5 V are wider by more than 3 Hz. Simultaneously, the primary beam resonant frequency is reduced by more tha...

Three-dimensional piezoelectric energy harvester with spring and magnetic coupling

We carried out a systematic theoretical study on how spin affects the phononic properties of CrI3 monolayers. We find that the frequencies of two infrared-active (IR) modes are significantly influenced by the magnetic configuration. Thus an IR spectrum may be applied to identify the magnetic order by utilizing the spin–lattice correlation. The thermal expansion coefficients are 2.21, 3.35 and −5.58 × 10−6 K−1 for ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM) and paramagnetic (PM) phases at 30 K, because of the competition between the modes with negative and positive Gruneisen constants. Furthermore, the lattice thermal conductivity is also sensitive to the magnetic phase, which is attributed to the spin-dependent lattice anharmonicity. Our results provide fundamental insights into the spin–lattice coupling and clarify the potential of a spintronic monolayer as a thermal switching device for active heat flow control.

Magnetic order-dependent phonon properties in 2D magnet CrI3

Antiferromagnetic material possesses excellent robustness to an external magnetic field perturbation, which makes it promising in application of spintronic devices. The magnon-phonon interaction plays a vital role in spintronic devices. In this work, we performed first-principles calculation to study the effect of magnon-phonon interaction on magnon spectra of the antiferromagnetic MXenes Cr2TiC2FCl, and calculated the phonon dominated magnon relaxation time based on the magnon spectra broadening. Due to the large exchange constants across Cr-Cr pairs, high magnon energy is found in Cr2TiC2FCl. We find that compared with the acoustic magnons, the optical magnons have stronger interaction with phonon modes. Moreover, relaxation time of optical magnons and acoustic magnons have quite different wavevector dependence. Our results about spin coupling to specific phonon polarizations can shed light on the understanding of magnon damping and energy dissipation in two-dimensional antiferromagnetic materials.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6528/aba4cf/pdf

Ke Wang

Papers

Two-dimensional heterostructures for photocatalytic water splitting: a review of recent progress

Remarkably improved Curie temperature for two-dimensional CrI3 by gas molecular adsorption: a DFT study

Three-dimensional piezoelectric energy harvester with spring and magnetic coupling

Magnetic order-dependent phonon properties in 2D magnet CrI3

Magnon-phonon interaction in antiferromagnetic two-dimensional MXenes.