Strain-Engineered Type-II 2D Heterostructures For Broadband Photodetection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29284/x6cr6n68Keywords:
Strain engineering, Type-II 2D heterostructures, MoS₂/WSe₂, Bandgap modulation.Abstract
Strain-engineered Type-II 2D heterostructures represents a novel pathway for enhanced broadband photodetection due to their ability to control the electronic and optical properties of a material, or a device, through mechanical strain. Conventional bare 2D materials experience trade-offs between both the carrier mobility and the spectral response, which interface the potential performance of devices fabricated from bare 2D materials. The objective of this study is to utilize engineered strain to achieve an advanced performance from the strain-tunable MoS₂/WSe₂ Type-II heterostructure from chemical vapor deposition, and dry transfer techniques, on Si/SiO₂ substrate. Uniform strained biaxial tensile strains (0-2%) were applied via a calibrated flexure stage to engineer interlayer coupling and the band alignment effect in the heterostructure. Structural and optical measurements characterized the heterostructures as monolayer, with atomic force microscopy (AFM) step height measurements of ~0.7-0.8 nm and Raman microscopy peak center wavenumbers redshifted from 385.2 cm-1 to 383.4 cm-1 under reproducible 2% strain. The resulting device displayed broadband responsivity (~400-1500 nm) with a peak responsivity at 800 nm of 0.71 A/W, an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 1.15, and a 23% improvement in photoresponsivity. Additionally, DFT suggested a bandgap reduction from 1.65 eV to 1.48 eV due to the induction of local strain. The combined results of these studies demonstrate strain engineering to achieve high-performance, ultra-flexible tunable broadband photodectors.
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