Issue 45, 2017

Tunable electronic properties of arsenene/GaS van der Waals heterostructures

Abstract

Finding novel atomically thin heterostructures and understanding their electronic properties is critical for developing better nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, we investigate the structural and electronic properties of arsenene/GaS van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures using first-principles calculations. Our results suggest that this heterostructure has an intrinsic type-II band alignment and an indirect band gap. Comparing the calculated band edge positions to the redox potentials of water, we identify that the arsenene/GaS vdW heterostructure is a promising photocatalyst for water splitting. Moreover, we also find that intriguing indirect–direct and semiconductor–metal transitions can be induced by strain. In particular, under certain strain, degenerate valleys of conduction band bottoms will be created, which suggests potential applications in valleytronics.

Graphical abstract: Tunable electronic properties of arsenene/GaS van der Waals heterostructures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Apr 2017
Accepted
22 May 2017
First published
01 Jun 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 28393-28398

Tunable electronic properties of arsenene/GaS van der Waals heterostructures

X. Li, B. Wang, X. Cai, L. Zhang, G. Wang and S. Ke, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 28393 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA03748A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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