Pressure-enhanced Optoelectronic Properties in Two-dimensional Metal Phosphorus Trichalcogenides Semiconductor SnPSe3

Abstract

Pressure engineering in two-dimensional semiconductor materials metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPTs) has successfully induced diverse novel physical phenomena such as spin-crossover, volume collapse, piezochromism, metallization, and superconductivity. Here, we show that the optoelectronic properties, photocurrent density Jph, responsivity R, and external quantum efficiency EQE of SnPSe3 are remarkably improved with increasing pressure and achieves an almost three orders of magnitude increment compared to its initial value. Combining with in situ high-pressure measurements and theoretical calculations, the pressure-enhanced photoelectric properties is mainly associated with the decrease of interatomic distances and the enhancement of interatomic interactions between P-P atoms as well as P-Se atoms. The discovery of pressure-enhanced optoelectronic properties in SnPSe3 offers an effective mean of regulating photoelectric properties and stimulates the exploration of novel properties of two-dimensional semiconductors.