Graphene is very popular because of its many fascinating properties, but its lack of an electronic bandgap has stimulated the search for 2D materials with semiconducting character. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which are semiconductors of the type MX2, where M is a transition metal atom (such as Mo or W) and X is a chalcogen atom (such as S, Se or Te), provide a promising alternative. Because of its robustness, MoS2 is the most studied material in this family. TMDCs exhibit a unique combination of atomic-scale thickness, direct bandgap, strong spin–orbit coupling and favourable electronic and mechanical properties, which make them interesting for fundamental studies and for applications in high-end electronics, spintronics, optoelectronics, energy harvesting, flexible electronics, DNA sequencing and personalized medicine. In this Review, the methods used to synthesize TMDCs are examined and their properties are discussed, with particular attention to their charge density wave, superconductive and topological phases. The use of TMCDs in nanoelectronic devices is also explored, along with strategies to improve charge carrier mobility, high frequency operation and the use of strain engineering to tailor their properties. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) exhibit attractive electronic and mechanical properties. In this Review, the charge density wave, superconductive and topological phases of TMCDs are discussed, along with their synthesis and applications in devices with enhanced mobility and with the use of strain engineering to improve their properties.

2D transition metal dichalcogenides

The electronic and optical properties and the recent progress in applications of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides with emphasis on strong excitonic effects, and spin- and valley-dependent properties are reviewed. Recent advances in the development of atomically thin layers of van der Waals bonded solids have opened up new possibilities for the exploration of 2D physics as well as for materials for applications. Among them, semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides, MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se), have bandgaps in the near-infrared to the visible region, in contrast to the zero bandgap of graphene. In the monolayer limit, these materials have been shown to possess direct bandgaps, a property well suited for photonics and optoelectronics applications. Here, we review the electronic and optical properties and the recent progress in applications of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides with emphasis on strong excitonic effects, and spin- and valley-dependent properties.

Photonics and optoelectronics of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides

The isolation of graphene in 2004 from graphite was a defining moment for the “birth” of a field: two-dimensional (2D) materials In recent years, there has been a rapidly increasing number of papers focusing on non-graphene layered materials, including transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), because of the new properties and applications that emerge upon 2D confinement Here, we review significant recent advances and important new developments in 2D materials “beyond graphene” We provide insight into the theoretical modeling and understanding of the van der Waals (vdW) forces that hold together the 2D layers in bulk solids, as well as their excitonic properties and growth morphologies Additionally, we highlight recent breakthroughs in TMD synthesis and characterization and discuss the newest families of 2D materials, including monoelement 2D materials (ie, silicene, phosphorene, etc) and transition metal carbide- and carbon nitride-based MXenes We then discuss the doping and functionalization of 2

Recent Advances in Two-Dimensional Materials beyond Graphene

Semiconductor technology is currently based on the manipulation of electronic charge; however, electrons have additional degrees of freedom, such as spin and valley, that can be used to encode and process information. Over the past several decades, there has been significant progress in manipulating electron spin for semiconductor spintronic devices, motivated by potential spin-based information processing and storage applications. However, experimental progress towards manipulating the valley degree of freedom for potential valleytronic devices has been limited until very recently. We review the latest advances in valleytronics, which have largely been enabled by the isolation of 2D materials (such as graphene and semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides) that host an easily accessible electronic valley degree of freedom, allowing for dynamic control. The energy extrema of an electronic band are referred to as valleys. In 2D materials, two distinguishable valleys can be used to encode information and explore other valleytronic applications.

Valleytronics in 2D materials

Reduced dimensionality and interlayer coupling in van der Waals materials gives rise to fundamentally different electronic
 1
 , optical
 2
 and many-body quantum3–5 properties in monolayers compared with the bulk. This layer-dependence permits the discovery of novel material properties in the monolayer regime. Ferromagnetic order in two-dimensional materials is a coveted property that would allow fundamental studies of spin behaviour in low dimensions and enable new spintronics applications6–8. Recent studies have shown that for the bulk-ferromagnetic layered materials CrI3 (ref. 9
 ) and Cr2Ge2Te6 (ref. 10
 ), ferromagnetic order is maintained down to the ultrathin limit at low temperatures. Contrary to these observations, we report the emergence of strong ferromagnetic ordering for monolayer VSe2, a material that is paramagnetic in the bulk11,12. Importantly, the ferromagnetic ordering with a large magnetic moment persists to above room temperature, making VSe2 an attractive material for van der Waals spintronics applications.

https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10090019

Strong room-temperature ferromagnetism in VSe2 monolayers on van der Waals substrates.

Exciton binding energy and excited states in monolayers of tungsten diselenide (WSe(2)) are investigated using the combined linear absorption and two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The exciton binding energy is determined to be 0.37 eV, which is about an order of magnitude larger than that in III-V semiconductor quantum wells and renders the exciton excited states observable even at room temperature. The exciton excitation spectrum with both experimentally determined one- and two-photon active states is distinct from the simple two-dimensional (2D) hydrogenic model. This result reveals significantly reduced and nonlocal dielectric screening of Coulomb interactions in 2D semiconductors. The observed large exciton binding energy will also have a significant impact on next-generation photonics and optoelectronics applications based on 2D atomic crystals.

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Tightly bound excitons in monolayer WSe(2).

Enhanced electron–phonon interactions in mono- and few-layer NbSe2 result in a significantly increased transition temperature of charge density waves compared with values in the bulk.

Strongly enhanced charge-density-wave order in monolayer NbSe2

We study the electronic band structure in the K/K′ valleys of the Brillouin zone of monolayer WSe2 and MoSe2 by optical reflection and photoluminescence spectroscopy on dual-gated field-effect devices. Our experiment reveals the distinct spin polarization in the conduction bands of these compounds by a systematic study of the doping dependence of the A and B excitonic resonances. Electrons in the highest-energy valence band and the lowest-energy conduction band have antiparallel spins in monolayer WSe2 and parallel spins in monolayer MoSe2. The spin splitting is determined to be hundreds of meV for the valence bands and tens of meV for the conduction bands, which are in good agreement with first-principles calculations. These values also suggest that both n- and p-type WSe2 and MoSe2 can be relevant for spin- and valley-based applications.

Probing the Spin-Polarized Electronic Band Structure in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides by Optical Spectroscopy

Silicon nanowire arrays fabricated by metal-assisted wet chemical etching have emerged as a promising architecture for solar energy harvesting applications. Here we investigate the dynamics and transport properties of photoexcited carriers in nanowires derived from an intrinsic silicon wafer using the terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy. Both the dynamics and the pump fluence dependence of the photoinduced complex conductivity spectra up to several THz were measured. The photoinduced conductivity spectra follow a Lorentz dependence, arising from surface plasmon resonances in nanowires. The carrier lifetime was observed to approach 0.7 ns, which is limited primarily by surface trapping. The intrinsic carrier mobility was found to be ∼1000 cm2/(V·s). Compared to other silicon nanostructures, these relative high values observed for both the carrier lifetime and mobility are the consequences of high crystallinity and surface quality of the nanowires fabricated by the metal-assisted wet chemical etching m...

Liang Zhao

Papers

Tightly bound excitons in monolayer WSe(2).

Strongly enhanced charge-density-wave order in monolayer NbSe2

Probing the Spin-Polarized Electronic Band Structure in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides by Optical Spectroscopy

Carrier Dynamics in Si Nanowires Fabricated by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching

Optical properties of two-dimemsional Van der Waals crystals: from terahertz to visible