Tuning the electronic properties of monolayer and bilayer transition metal dichalcogenide compounds under direct out-of-plane compression
Morales García, Ángel (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física)
Del Corro, Elena (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia)
Kalbáč, Martin (J.Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry)
Frank, Otakar (J.Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry)

Date:	2017
Abstract:	The band-gap modulation of atomically thin semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides (MX; M = Mo or W, X = S or Se) under direct out-of-plane compression is systematically studied by means of the density functional theory (DFT) formalism including spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and dispersion correction (D3). The out-of-plane compared with other regimes stress regime significantly reduces the pressure threshold at which the semimetal state is achieved (2. 7-3. 1 and 1. 9-3. 2 GPa for mono- and bilayer systems, respectively). Structural, electronic and bonding properties are investigated for a better understanding of the electronic transitions achieved with compression. A notable relationship with the formal ionic radius (M and X) is obtained. On one hand, the monolayer systems with the smallest transition metal radius (Mo < W) reach the semimetal state at lower stress, on the other hand, for bilayer specimens the transition to semimetal is observed earlier for compounds with the smallest chalcogenide radius (S < Se). Moreover, the appearance of non-covalent interaction (NCI) domains in the semimetal state confirms that the out-of-plane compression promotes the interaction between sulfur atoms in the single layered systems and reduces the interlayer space in bilayer configurations. Our predictions, supported by experimental evidences in the case of monolayered MoS, demonstrate new alternative methods for tuning the electronic properties of transition metal dichalcogenides under direct out-of-plane compression.
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió sotmesa a revisió
Published in:	Physical chemistry chemical physics, Vol. 19, Issue 20 (May 2017) , p. 13333-13340, ISSN 1463-9076

DOI: 10.1039/c7cp00012j

Preprint 18 p, 1.7 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
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Articles > Published articles