Skip to main content
Nanomaterials logoLink to Nanomaterials
. 2021 Feb 24;11(3):559. doi: 10.3390/nano11030559

Novel Two-Dimensional Layered MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As): New Promising Optoelectronic Materials

Hui Yao 1,2, Chao Zhang 3, Qiang Wang 1, Jianwei Li 1, Yunjin Yu 1,*, Fuming Xu 1, Bin Wang 1,*, Yadong Wei 1
Editors: Jung-Ho Yun, Jeonghun Kim, Francisco Javier García Ruiz
PMCID: PMC7995989  PMID: 33668165

Abstract

Very recently, two new two-dimensional (2D) layered semi-conducting materials MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4 were successfully synthesized in experiments, and a large family of these two 2D materials, namely MA2Z4, was also predicted theoretically (Science, 369, 670 (2020)). Motivated by this exciting family, in this work, we systematically investigate the mechanical, electronic and optical properties of monolayer and bilayer MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4 by using the first-principles calculation method. Numerical results indicate that both monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As) present good structural stability, isotropic mechanical parameters, moderate bandgap, favorable carrier mobilities, remarkable optical absorption, superior photon responsivity and external quantum efficiency. Especially, due to the wave-functions of band edges dominated by d orbital of the middle-layer Mo atoms are screened effectively, the bandgap and optical absorption hardly depend on the number of layers, providing an added convenience in the experimental fabrication of few-layer MoSi2Z4-based electronic and optoelectronic devices. We also build a monolayer MoSi2Z4-based 2D optoelectronic device, and quantitatively evaluate the photocurrent as a function of energy and polarization angle of the incident light. Our investigation verifies the excellent performance of a few-layer MoSi2Z4 and expands their potential application in nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Keywords: DFT, remarkable optical absorption, superior external quantum efficiency, optoelectronic devices

1. Introduction

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted extensive attention due to their distinctive physical and material properties and the potential application on account of monolayer limit [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. As a typical representative, graphene has been widely expected to be a proper material for the preparation of a new generation of nanoelectronic devices due to remarkable high carrier mobility, but its zero bandgap reminds us that it may not be an effective solution [1,10,11]. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) possess tunable bandgap, but its comparatively low carrier mobilities is a not neglectable obstacle for practical applications [3,12,13,14]. For example, the carrier mobility of MoS2 is roughly 72 cm2V1s1 for electron and 200 cm2V1s1 for hole, which are roughly four to six orders of magnitude smaller than graphene and even much lower than those of low-doped Si (1350 cm2V1s1 for electron and 480 cm2V1s1 for hole). Beyond TMDCs, a large 2D family of transition metal carbides and carbonitrides, called MXenes, has been discovered in recent years [15,16,17]. MXenes are produced by the etching out of the A layers from MAX phases of Mn+1AXn, where M is a transition metal, A is mainly a group IIIA or IVA element, and X is C or N with n=1,2,3. So far, more than 60 different pure MXenes have been explored. Their electronic properties, such as band-gap and magnetism, can be tuned by changing the MXene elemental composition and the surface terminations.

Very recently, a new kind of hexagonal 2D MXene, MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4, was successfully synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method with large size up to 15 mm × 15 mm [18]. They show good environmental stability, and even have no structural deformation within six months. Monolayer MoSi2N4 is septuple-atomic-layer structure of N-Si-N-Mo-N-Si-N, which can be view as a MoN2 layer sandwiched by two SiN layers. It exhibits indirect bandgap semiconducting behavior with band-gap roughly equal to 1.94 eV. The elastic modulus is four times that of monolayer MoS2, and electron/hole mobility is also roughly four-to-six times larger than that of monolayer MoS2. In addition, a large family of MA2Z4 is predicted by first-principles calculation, where M represents the elements of IVB, VB, or VIB groups, A represents Si or Ge, and Z represents the elements of VA group. The nanosheets in this family are expected to have wide tunable bandgap and magnetic properties, meaning potential application in electronics, optoelectronics and spintronics.

Motivated by the exciting properties of MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4, some theoretical works have been carried out to further explore the mechanical and physical properties of their family by using the first-principles calculation method [19,20]. The lattice thermal conductivity, piezoelectric and flexoelectric response, and photocatalytic and electronic feature of monolayer MA2Z4 (M = Cr, Mo, W; A = Si, Ge; Z = N, P) were systematically calculated. They show diverse electronic properties from antiferromagnetic metal to half metal and semiconductor with band gaps ranging from 0.31 to 2.57 eV. Monolayer MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4 were predicted to show outstandingly high lattice thermal conductivity of 440 and 500 W/mK, respectively [19]. The piezoelectricity property was calculated for six different configurations of MSi2N4 (M = Mo, W) which are built through translation, mirror and rotation operations. The maximum piezoelectric strain and stress coefficients is 3.53 pm/V and 13.95×1010 C/m for MoSi2N4, and 2.91 pm/V and 12.17×1010 C/m for WSi2N4, respectively, which are much larger than those of 2D TMD, metal oxides, III-V semiconductor and Janus TMD [20]. By tuning biaxial in-plane strain to monolayer VSi2P4, a continuous phase transition can be occurred from a ferromagnetic metal to a spin-gapless semiconductor to a ferromagnetic semiconductor to spin-gapless semiconductor to a ferromagnetic half-metal. At the ferromagnetic semiconductor phase, ferromagnetism and piezoelectricity can exist together due to broken inversion symmetry [21]. The van der Waals hetero-structures composed of MoSi2N4 contacted by graphene and NbS2 monolayers were predicted to exhibit ultra-low Schottky barrier height, which can be modulated via the interlayer distance or external electric field [22]. Due to the intrinsic inversion symmetry breaking and strong spin–orbital coupling, remarkable spin-valley coupling in the inequivalent valleys at K and K points can be found for MoSi2X4 (X = N, P, As). It induces spin-valley coupled optical selection properties, which can be tuned by in-plane strain [23]. Beyond traditional two-level valleys, monolayer MoSi2N4 shows multiple folded valleys, implying an additional intrinsic degree of freedom. The valley-contrasting properties in monolayer MoSi2N4 were discussed by using a three-band low-power Hamiltonian, where each valley and energy band can be selectively controlled [24].

In this paper, we systematically investigate the structural, electronic, optoelectronic and quantum transport properties of monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As). All these 2D materials possess stable configuration, moderate direct band-gap, high and anisotropic carrier mobilities, large optical absorption coefficient, superior photon responsivity and external quantum efficiency in the visible light region. An optoelectronic device based on monolayer MoSi2Z4 is also built to model the adjustable photocurrent. Our investigation further expands the application prospect of few-layer MoSi2Z4 in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the computational methods are briefly introduced. In Section 3, the numerical results of the structural, electronic and optoelectronic properties are presented. In addition, the photocurrent of monolayer MoSi2Z4-based nanodevice is also calculated. In Section 4, a brief summary is presented.

2. Numerical Methods

A first-principles calculation is performed by using the Vienna ab initio simulation package [25,26] based on the density functional theory (DFT). Both the generalized gradient approximation with a PBE form [27] and the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06) [28] hybrid functional is adopted to calculate the band structures and optical-electronic properties. The energy cutoff and reciprocal k-points are chosen as 500 eV and 16×16×1 in structure relaxation and electronic calculation. A vacuum space of 20 Å perpendicular to the 2D plane is applied to separate the periodic images. The weak vdW interaction between adjacent layers is described by the DFT-D2 functional with Grimme correction [29]. The convergence criteria of force and energy are set to 0.01 eV/Å and 105 eV. To examine the stability of all the structures, PHONOPY code is used to calculate the phonon dispersion curves [30], and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation [31] is carried out to examine the total energy evolution at high temperature. To calculate the photocurrent of 2D layered MoSi2Z4 based nanodevice, Nanodcal software is evaluated which is developed based on the combination of DFT and non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF-DFT) [32]. In the calculation, norm-conserving pseudopotential, double-zeta polarization basis set and exchange-correlation functional at PBE level are employed.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Structural and Mechanical Properties of Few-Layer MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As)

Figure 1 shows the optimized schematic structures of monolayer (a) and bilayer (b–d) MoSi2Z4 from top view and side view, where Z = P, As. Monolayer MoSi2Z4 is constructed from septuple atomic layers of Z–Si–Z–Mo–Z–Si–Z, which can be viewed as a MoZ2 layer sandwiched by two SiZ layers. It presents A–B stacked hexagonal lattice from the top view, and its primitive cell includes one Mo atom, two Si atoms and four Z atoms as labeled by the parallelogram in Figure 1a. The lattice parameters a=b= 3.470 Å and 3.620 Å for Z = P and As, respectively, which are well coincident with those predicted in previous work [18]. Figure 1b–d present three most likely stacking patterns of bilayer MoSi2Z4, namely AA, AB and AC, where the Si atoms in the lower layer are aligned with the Si, Z, and Mo atoms in the upper layer, respectively. The relaxed lattice parameters a and interlayer distances d are listed in Table 1 for each stacking pattern and two kinds of Z atoms. We find that the interlayer distance of AB stacking is the smallest compared to the other two stacking patterns for both MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

(a) Schematic structure of monolayer MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As) from top view and side view. The parallelogram indicates its primitive cell. (b) AA, (c) AB, (d) AC stacking patterns of bilayer MoSi2Z4.

Table 1.

Lattice constants a, interlayer distance d, cohesive energy Ec, binding energy Eb and band gap of few-layer MoSi2Z4(Z = P, As).

System Monolayer Bilayer MoSi2P4 Monolayer Bilayer MoSi2As4
Patterns MoSi2P4 AA AB AC MoSi2As4 AA AB AC
a(A˚) 3.470 3.449 3.450 3.450 3.620 3.581 3.583 3.583
d(A˚) 3.850 3.075 3.081 3.825 3.108 3.112
Ec(eV) −6.089 −5.475
Eb(eV) −3.536 −3.614 −3.613 −4.272 −4.385 −4.384
Bandgap(eV) 1.015 0.994 1.019 1.021 0.891 0.888 0.894 0.894

Firstly, we check the stability of monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 before further studying their physical properties. For monolayer MoSi2Z4, the cohesive energy is calculated by

Ec=(EMo+2ESi+4EZEMoSi2Z4)/7, (1)

where EMo, ESi, EZ and EMoSi2Z4 are total energies of isolated Mo atom, Si atom, Z atom and a primitive cell of MoSi2Z4. The calculated cohesive energies are 6.089 eV/atom for MoSi2P4 and 5.475 eV/atom for MoSi2As4. They are smaller than that of graphene (7.46 eV/atom), while larger than those of MoS2 (4.98 eV/atom) and phosphorene (3.30 eV/atom) [33,34,35] indicting proper stability. For bilayer MoSi2Z4, the stability is generally measured by the binding energy defined as

Eb=EBL2EML, (2)

where EBL and EML stand for total energies of bilayer and monolayer MoSi2Z4, respectively. As listed in Table 1, the binding energies are negative for all the bilayer MoSi2Z4, and the AB stacking has the smallest value indicting the most stable stacking patten. Thus, we only focus on the AB stacking pattern for the bilayer MoSi2Z4 in the rest of this paper.

Next, the phonon dispersion spectrums of monolayer MoSi2Z4 are calculated to examine their dynamic stability. Figure 2a presents the phonon dispersion spectrum of monolayer MoSi2P4. The low-frequency band near Γ point is roughly linear and there is no imaginary modes in the Brillouin zone, which indicates monolayer MoSi2P4 is dynamically stable. An AIMD simulation is performed at 300 K to further examine the thermal stability of the structure by employing a 4×4 supercell. As shown in Figure 2b, the total energy of monolayer MoSi2P4 oscillates slightly in the vicinity of −720 eV for a long time without decay. Neither bond-breaking nor geometry reconstruction appears in the structure at 10 fs indicating thermal stability of monolayer MoSi2P4 at room temperature. Similar phonon dispersion spectrums and total energy evaluations are also obtained for all the other monolayer and bilayer structures, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

(a) Phonon dispersion curves and (b) total energy variation at 300 K of monolayer MoSi2P4. Inset in (b) shows the top view and side view of a snapshot at 10 ps. (c) Young’s modulus Y(θ) and (d) Poisson’s ratio ν(θ) of monolayer MoSi2P4 (purple curve) and MoSi2As4 (blue curve) along arbitrary in-plane directions.

Figure 3.

Figure 3

(a) Phonon band dispersion curves of the monolayer MoSi2As4. Variations of total energy at 300 K as functions of time for (b) monolayer MoSi2As4, (c) bilayer MoSi2P4, (d) bilayer MoSi2As4. (e) Young’s modulus Y(θ) and (f) Poisson’s ratio ν(θ) of bilayer MoSi2P4 (purple curve) and MoSi2As4 (blue curve) along arbitrary in-plane directions.

Finally, we examine the mechanical properties of all the structures under external force by calculating elastic constants Cij. As listed in Table 2, the Born criteria C11C22C122>0 and C66>0 are both satisfied for the monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 meaning their mechanical stability [36]. Based on Ci,j, Young’s modulus Y(θ) and the Poisson’s ratio ν(θ) along the in-plane angle θ and the layer modulus γ are also calculated. Y(θ) indicates the reciprocal of the response of strain to stress along a specific direction along θ in the 2D plane. ν(θ) is the ratio of the absolute value of transverse normal strain to axial normal strain. γ represents the resistance of the 2D surface to stretching, and thus is independent of θ. These physical quantities can be calculated by the following formulas [37]

Y(θ)=C11C22C122C11sin4θ+Asin2θcos2θ+C22cos4θ,
ν(θ)=C12sin4θBsin2θcos2θ+C12cos4θC11sin4θ+Asin2θcos2θ+C22cos4θ,
γ=14(C11+C22+2C12),

in which A=(C11C22C122)/C662C12 and B=C11+C22(C11C22C122)/C66. Figure 2c,d show the Y(θ) and ν(θ) of monolayer MoSi2Z4. Y(θ) is isotropic and ν(θ) is roughly isotropic for both monolayers. Y(θ) of MoSi2P4 is larger than that of MoSi2As4, while ν(θ) of the former is smaller to that of the latter. This means monolayer MoSi2As4 is easier to deform under in plane external force than monolayer MoSi2P4. It is reasonable because the As–Mo and As–Si bonds are longer and deformable than the P–Mo and P–Si bonds. Similarly, γ of MoSi2P4 is larger than that of MoSi2As4. Y and γ of monolayer MoSi2Z4 are slightly smaller than that of monolayer graphene (340 N/m and 215.9 N/m) and BN (318 N/m and 177.0 N/m) [38], while comparable to those of SiC (179.7 N/m and 116.5 N/m) [38] and monolayer PC3 (180.4 N/m and 102.1 N/m) [39] implying their similar mechanical response. In terms of bilayer MoSi2Z4, both Y(θ) and γ are nearly two times as those of monolayer MoSi2Z4 (see Table 2 and Figure 3). Such behavior is physically reasonable and in good accordance with that of multilayer graphene [38] and PC3 [39]. The calculated moduli indicate that few-layered MoSi2Z4 are stretchable and flexible as most of the other common 2D materials, indicting potential application in flexible electronic devices.

Table 2.

The calculated elastic constants Cij, Young’s modulus Y and Poisson’s ratio ν along the x (θ=0) and y (θ=π/2) directions, layer modulus γ for monolayer (ML-) and bilayer (BL-) MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As).

Type C11(N/m) C22(N/m) C12(N/m) C66(N/m) Yx(N/m) Yy(N/m) νx νy γ(N/m)
ML-MoSi2P4 217.70 222.65 56.35 80.67 203.43 208.06 0.253 0.259 138.26
BL-MoSi2P4 476.59 479.76 130.42 173.09 441.14 444.07 0.272 0.274 304.30
ML-MoSi2As4 182.38 188.67 52.01 65.18 168.04 173.84 0.276 0.285 118.77
BL-MoSi2As4 415.86 423.43 124.00 145.93 379.54 386.45 0.293 0.298 271.82

3.2. Electronic Properties of Few-Layer MoSi2Z4

Figure 4a,b show the band structure and projected density of states (PDOS) of monolayer MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4 based on PBE and HSE06 exchange-correlation functionals. For each configuration, the band structure based on the PBE exchange-correlation functional is similar to that based on the HSE06 functional except the smaller bandgap. Both structures show a direct bandgap, and both conduction band minimum (CBM) and valence band maximum (VBM) locate at K point. This is different from monolayer MoSi2N4, whose CBM sits K point while VBM locates at Γ point, presenting indirect band-gap semiconducting behavior (Ref. [18], also see Figure 5a). To get more insight into this difference, PDOS and charge distribution at VBM and CBM are plotted in Figure 5c,d. For monolayer MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As, both CBMs and VBMs are mainly originated from the d orbitals of Mo atoms which locate in the middle layer of the structures. While, for monolayer MoSi2N4, VBM is dominated by both d orbital of Mo atoms and p orbital of Z atom (see Figure 5b). Due to the orbital hybridization, an obvious extension of VBM from the middle Mo atoms to beside the Z atoms occurs, which is much different from the charge distribution of VBMs in MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4. This is reasonable because the N–Mo bonds are shorter than the P–Mo and As–Mo bonds, and thus the orbital hybridization is more likely to happen in MoSi2N4.

Figure 4.

Figure 4

The electronic band structure and projected density of states (PDOS) of monolayer (a) MoSi2P4 and (b) MoSi2As4. (c,d): Corresponding charge distribution at valence band maximum (VBM) and conduction band minimum (CBM) dominated by the d orbital of Mo atoms in the middle layer.

Figure 5.

Figure 5

(a) The electronic band structure and PDOS of monolayer MoSi2N4, (b) Corresponding charge distribution at VBM and CBM of monolayer MoSi2N4. The electronic band structure and PDOS of bilayer (c) MoSi2P4 and (d) MoSi2As4.

In terms of bilayer MoSi2Z4, similar direct bandgap semiconducting behavior to monolayer MoSi2Z4 are obtained, where both CBM and VBM locate at K points (see Figure 5c,d). The bandgap of bilayer MoSi2Z4 changes very little in comparison to that of monolayer MoSi2Z4 (see Table 1). The independence of bandgap with the number of layers can be attributed to the orbital shield. Because the states at CBM and VBM are dominated by the d orbital of Mo atoms, they are effectively screened inside the monolayer MoSi2Z4 because the Mo atoms located in the middle layer of seven atomic layers. For bilayer MoSi2Z4, the rather weak interlayer vdW interaction makes the Mo atoms at the up layer and those at the down layer have nothing to do with each other, and thus the band gap is very close to that of the monolayer. Similar layer number independent bandgap behavior has also been found in layered 2D KAgSe [40]. The layer number independent electronic properties provide enormous convenience and less difficulty in experimental fabrication of finite layer MoSi2Z4-based electronic devices.

3.3. Carrier Mobilities of Few-Layer MoSi2Z4

Carrier mobility is an important factor to describe the transport ability of electronic and optoelectronic materials, which can be evaluated by using the deformation potential method as follows [41,42],

μ=eћCkBTm*mdEDP2, (3)

where T is the temperature and equal to 300 K in this calculation; m*=±ћ2(d2Ek/dk2) is the effective mass of electrons and holes depending on the change of energy with wave vector k along different transport directions; md is the averaged effective mass defined as md=mx*my*; C=(2E/2ε)/S0 is the elastic modulus related to the change of total energy with strain along different directions; EDP=dEedge/dε is the deformation potential constant given by the change rate of band edges with strain. The calculated carrier mobilities and corresponding parameters of layered MoSi2Z4 are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3.

The effective mass m*, elastic modulus C2D, deformation potential constant EDP, and carrier mobility μ along x and y directions for monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 at 300 K.

System CarrierType m*/m0 C2D (Nm1) EDP (eV) μ (cm2V1s1)
ML-MoSi2P4 e(x) 0.325 214.88 6.82 828.76
e(y) 0.415 218.74 6.28 778.90
h(x) 0.339 214.88 3.43 3171.83
h(y) 0.430 218.74 3.65 2131.78
BL-MoSi2P4 e(x) 0.313 481.13 6.94 1919.84
e(y) 0.403 484.88 6.40 1759.76
h(x) 0.344 481.13 2.99 8652.25
h(y) 0.435 481.88 3.55 4860.34
ML-MoSi2As4 e(x) 0.499 178.40 4.05 823.19
e(y) 0.640 178.37 3.76 743.11
h(x) 0.419 178.40 3.04 2093.38
h(y) 0.524 178.37 3.16 1552.98
BL-MoSi2As4 e(x) 0.496 432.14 4.19 1855.52
e(y) 0.659 432.12 3.88 1629.69
h(x) 0.425 432.14 2.79 5905.10
h(y) 0.528 432.12 2.77 4819.97

Three pieces of information can be obtained from Table 3. Firstly, the carrier mobility of holes is roughly three to four times larger than that of electrons for both monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 along with both x and y directions, which mainly attributes to the smaller deformation potential constant EDP of holes. This difference of carrier mobilities can effectively facilitate the spatial separation of electrons and holes, which reduces the recombination probability of photo-excited carriers and suggests satisfactory performances for nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. Secondly, the carrier mobilities of bilayer MoSi2Z4 are largely improved in contrast to those of monolayer MoSi2Z4 due to the roughly doubled elastic modulus C. Similar properties were also found for MXs [43]. Thirdly, the carrier mobilities of MoSi2P4 are slightly higher than that of MoSi2As4 for both monolayer and bilayer structures, which are also independent of carrier types and directions. Especially, these carrier mobilities are relatively high, which are much larger than those of MoS2 (200–500 cm2V1s1) [44] and even comparable to those of black phosphorene [42] indicating potential application in 2D electronic devices.

3.4. Optical Absorption Spectrums of Layered MoSi2Z4

Monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 with direct band gaps about 0.85–1.0 eV exhibit potential application for visible–light solar harvesting/utilizing techniques or making narrow-gap semiconductor devices. Recent studies revealed that such narrow band gap materials are good candidates of infrared photodetectors, such as phosphorus carbides and black arsenic phosphorus [6,45,46]. Thus, we further investigate the optoelectronic performance of few-layer MoSi2Z4 by calculating the absorption coefficient as follows [47,48]

α(ω)=2ωε12(ω)+ε22(ω)ε1(ω), (4)

where c, ω, ε1(ω) and ε2(ω) stands for the light velocity, frequency of incident light, real part and imaginary part of the frequency-dependent dielectric function, respectively. ε1(ω) and ε2(ω) can be calculated by using the Kramers–Kronig relation and summing all the empty states in the Brillouin zone.

Figure 6 shows the optical absorption coefficients of monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 based on PBE and HSE06 calculations, where the polarization direction of incident light is parallel to the 2D plane. All the few-layer MoSi2Z4 display very similar and remarkably high absorption coefficients (∼105 cm1) in the visible-ultraviolet light region, which agrees well with their similar band gaps as shown in Figure 4. The large absorption is even comparable to that of graphene, phosphorene and MoS2 [6]. The strong optical absorption and broad absorption ranges make layered MoSi2Z4 promising materials for photovoltaic solar cells and optoelectronic devices. Especially, the layer number independence to the bandgap and optical absorption makes the experimental fabrication more convenient of few-layer MoSi2Z4-based 2D optoelectronic devices.

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Optical absorption coefficients versus the energy of incident light for 2D (a) monolayer MoSi2P4, (b) monolayer MoSi2As4, (c) bilayer MoSi2P4 and (d) bilayer MoSi2As4 based on PBE and HSE06 functionals. For each panel, the polarization vector of incident light is set parallel to the plane, and the two vertical dashed lines indicate the region of visible light.

3.5. Photocurrent in Monolayer MoSi2Z4 Nanodevice

On account of the similar and excellent optical absorption performance of layered MoSi2Z4, we build a monolayer MoSi2Z4-based two-probe 2D optoelectronic device as shown in Figure 7 and evaluate its photoinduced current. To solve the quantum transport problem in this identical system, the device can be separated into three parts theoretically including a central scattering region and two semi-infinite electrodes. When the incident light energy in the scattering region is larger than the bandgap, the electrons at the valence band can be excited to the conduction band by absorbing photons. When a tiny external bias is applied between the source and the drain, the excited electrons can be driven to produce photocurrent in the system. Note that the potential difference between the left and the right leads should be much smaller than the bandgap of the system to ensure that the detected current in the electrode is completely generated by the light but not bias. The photocurrent flowing into the left probe can be expressed in terms of the NEGF as follows [49,50,51],

JLph=iehTrΓL{G<(ph)+fL(E)(G>(ph)G<(ph))}dE, (5)

where fL, ΓL and G</>(ph) denotes the Fermi distribution function, line-width function and greater/lesser Green’s function of the two-probe system including electron-photon interaction, respectively.

Figure 7.

Figure 7

Schematic structure of monolayer MoSi2Z4-based 2D optoelectronic device. The yellow zone in the center scattering region stands for the lighting area. The left blue region and right red region represent the drain and source, respectively.

In this calculation, the incident light is perpendicular to the 2D plane, and the angle between polarization direction and transport direction is labeled as θ. Figure 8a,c show the photocurrent versus energy of the linearly polarized light with power density equal to 103μW/mm2 and θ equal to 0 and 90. When energy is smaller than 0.5 eV, photocurrent is equal to zero for both MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4 because the energy is smaller than their band gaps. With further increase of energy, photocurrent appears and oscillates with the energy for both θ=0 and 90 depending on the detailed behavior of band structures. Photocurrent reaches local maximum in the visible region at θ=0, and in the ultraviolet region at θ=90. To further explore the influence of incident polarization angle θ, photocurrent as a function of θ under different photon energy in the visible light region are evaluated as shown in Figure 6b,d. For both MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4, the photocurrent is roughly symmetrical with respect to θ=90, and reaches maximums at θ=0 and θ=180. Similar symmetrical distribution of photocurrent with polarization angle was also reported for monolayer KAgSe-based 2D optoelectronic device [40].

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Photocurrent as a function of photon energy with polarization angle θ of the incident light equal to 0 and 90 for monolayer (a) MoSi2P4 and (c) MoSi2As4 nanodevice. (c,d) show the photocurrent versus photon energy and θ for monolayer (b) MoSi2P4 and (d) MoSi2As4 nanodevice.

The responsivity Rph and external quantum efficiency τeqe are generally used to measure the photovoltaic performances, which are defined as

Rph=JLpheFph (6)

and

τeqe=Rphhceλ, (7)

in which the photon flux Fph stands for the number of incident photons in unit area and unit time. Rph of monolayer MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4 in the visible light region are 0.060 AW1 and 0.046 AW1, respectively, which are the same order as those of MoS2(0.016 AW1) and monolayer chalcogenides (0.035 AW1 for GeS and 0.075 AW1 for SnS), while two orders higher than that of graphene (5×104AW1) [52]. τeqe of monolayer MoSi2P4 and MoSi2As4 in the visible light region can reach 18.60% and 13.33%, respectively, which are comparable to those of KAgSe (17.92%) [40] and monolayer chalcogenides (10.27% for GeS and 22.01% for SnS) [53]. In addition, Rph and τeqe of monolayer MoSi2Z4 are greatly increased within the whole light region, ie, 0.143 AW1 and 64.26% for MoSi2P4, 0.098 AW1 and 41.16% for MoSi2As4. Here, it is worth mentioning that the above values of photon responsivity Rph and external quantum efficiency τeqe are all calculated theoretically based on the computational models. It is hoping that there will be more experimental results to support in the future. Once again, these ideal performances of MoSi2Z4 suggest their powerful potential application in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.

4. Conclusions

Recently synthesized 2D semiconductors MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4 exhibit prominent material and physical properties, including remarkable stability, high strength and large carrier mobility, which also inspires increasing theoretical researches to further explore the physical properties of their family MA2Z4. First principle calculations indicate that MA2Z4 materials possess wide tunable band gaps, magnetic properties and valley-contrasting properties, indicating potential applications in electronics, optoelectronics, spintronics and valleytronics. In this case, we investigated the electronic and photoelectrical properties of monolayer and bilayer 2D MoSi2Z4 (Z = P, As) by using the first-principles calculation method. Firstly, the structural, dynamic, thermal and mechanical stabilities of the few-layer MoSi2Z4 were numerically verified. Secondly, both monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 show direct bandgap semiconducting behavior, which is different from MoSi2N4 with indirect bandgap. Moreover, the band gaps of layered MoSi2Z4 are roughly independent of the number of layers due to effective screening to the atomic orbital of Mo atoms. Thirdly, monolayer and bilayer MoSi2Z4 show high carrier mobilities and remarkable optical absorption coefficients. Monolayer MoSi2Z4-based optoelectronic device displays large photon responsivity and external quantum efficiency. All these appealing properties make MoSi2Z4 promising candidates for application in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.Y. and B.W.; methodology, C.Z. and Q.W.; software, H.Y., J.L., F.X. and Y.W.; formal analysis, H.Y., B.W. and Y.Y.; investigation, H.Y. and C.Z.; writing-original draft preparation, H.Y.; writing-review and editing, B.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was financially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 11774238), Shenzhen Natural Science Foundations (Grant No. JCYJ20190808150409413, JCYJ20190808115415679 and JCYJ20190808152801642) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (GDNSF) (Grant No. 2020A1515011418).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Footnotes

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

  • 1.Novoselov K.S., Geim A.K., Morozov S.V., Jiang D., Zhang Y., Dubonos S.V., Grigorieva I.V., Firsov A.A. Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science. 2004;306:666–669. doi: 10.1126/science.1102896. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Ci L., Song L., Jin C., Jariwala D., Wu D., Li Y., Srivastava A., Wang Z.F., Storr K., Balicas L., et al. Atomic Layers of Hybridized Boron Nitride and Graphene Domains. Nat. Mater. 2010;9:430. doi: 10.1038/nmat2711. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Wang Q.H., Kalantarzadeh K., Kis A., Coleman J.N., Strano M.S. Electronics and optoelectronics of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2017;7:699–712. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2012.193. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Hu Z.Y., Ding Y.C., Hu X.M., Zhou W.H., Yu X.C., Zhang S.L. Recent progress in 2D group IV-IV monochalcogenides: Synthesis, properties and applications. Nanotechnology. 2019;30:252001. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab07d9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Xu K., Yin L., Huang Y., Shifa T.A., Chu J.W., Wang F., Cheng R.Q., Wang Z.X., He J. Synthesis, properties and applications of 2D layered MIIIXVI(M= Ga, In; X=S, Se, Te) materials. Nanoscale. 2016;8:16802–16818. doi: 10.1039/C6NR05976G. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Yu T., Zhao Z.Y., Sun Y.H., Bergara A., Lin J.Y., Zhang S.T., Xu H.Y., Zhang L.J., Yang G.C., Liu Y.C. Two-dimensional PC6 with direct band gap and anisotropic carrier mobility. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019;141:1599–1605. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b11350. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Niedzielski B., Jia C., Berakdar J. Supercurrent Induced by Chiral Coupling in Multiferroic/Superconductor Nanostructures. Nanomaterials. 2021;11:184. doi: 10.3390/nano11010184. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Chittari B.L., Lee D., Banerjee N., MacDonald A.H., Hwang E., Jung J. Carrier- and strain-tunable intrinsic magnetism in two-dimensional MAX3 transition metal chalcogenides. Phys. Rev. B. 2020;101:085415. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.085415. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Hou W., Mi H., Peng R., Peng S., Zeng W., Zhou Q. First-Principle Insight into Ga-Doped MoS2 for Sensing SO2, SOF2 and SO2F2. Nanomaterials. 2021;11:314. doi: 10.3390/nano11020314. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Chen J., Xi J., Wang D., Shuai Z. Carrier Mobility in Graphyne Should Be Even Larger than That in Graphene: A Theoretical Prediction. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2013;4:1443. doi: 10.1021/jz4005587. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Lherbier A., Botello-Mendez A.R., Charlier J.C. Electronic and Transport Properties of Unbalanced Sublattice N-Doping in Graphene. Nano Lett. 2013;13:1446. doi: 10.1021/nl304351z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Mak K.F., Lee C., Hone J., Shan J., Heinz T.F. Atomically Thin MoS2: A New Direct-Gap Semiconductor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2010;105:136805. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.136805. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Ahmadi M., Zabihi O., Jeon S., Yoonessi M., Dasari A., Ramakrishna S., Naebe M. 2D transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterials: Advances, opportunities, and challenges in multi-functional polymer nanocomposites. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2020;8:845–883. doi: 10.1039/C9TA10130F. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Cai Y.Q., Zhang G., Zhang Y.W. Polarity-Reversed Robust Carrier Mobility in Monolayer MoS2 Nanoribbons. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014;136:6269–6275. doi: 10.1021/ja4109787. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Anasori B., Lukatskaya M.R., Gogotsi Y. 2D metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) for energy storage. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2017;2:16098. doi: 10.1038/natrevmats.2016.98. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Naguib M., Mochalin V.N., Barsoum M.W., Gogotsi Y. 25th anniversary article: MXenes: A new family of two-dimensional materials. Adv. Mater. 2014;26:992–1005. doi: 10.1002/adma.201304138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Huang K., Li Z., Lin J., Han G., Huang P. Two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) for biomedical applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2018;47:5109–5124. doi: 10.1039/C7CS00838D. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Hong Y.L., Liu Z., Wang L., Zhou T., Ma W., Xu C., Feng S., Chen L., Chen M.L., Sun D.M., et al. Chemical vapor deposition of layered two-dimensional MoSi2N4 materials. Science. 2020;369:670–674. doi: 10.1126/science.abb7023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Mortazavi B., Javvaji B., Shojaei F., Rabczuk T., Shapeev A.V., Zhuang X.Y. Exceptional piezoelectricity, high thermal conductivity and stiffness and promising photocatalysis in two-dimensional MoSi2N4 family confirmed by first-principles. Nano Energy. 2021;82:105716. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105716. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Guo S.D., Zhu Y.T., Mu W.Q., Wang L., Chen X.Q. Structure effect on intrinsic piezoelectricity in septuple-atomic-layer MoSi2N4(M = Mo and W) Comput. Mater. Sci. 2021;188:110223. doi: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2020.110223. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Guo S.D., Mu W.Q., Zhu Y.T., Wang L., Chen X.Q., Shapeev A.V., Zhuang X.Y. Coexistence of intrinsic piezoelectricity and ferromagnetism induced by small biaxial strain in septuple-atomic-layer VSi2P4. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2020;22:28359–28364. doi: 10.1039/D0CP05273F. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Cao L.M., Zhou G.H., Wang Q.Q., Ang L.K., Ang Y.S. Two-dimensional van der Waals electrical contact to monolayer MoSi2N4. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2021;118:013106. doi: 10.1063/5.0033241. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Ai H.Q., Liu D., Geng J.Z., Wang S.P., Lo K.H., Pan H. Theoretical evidence of the spin-valley coupling and valley polarization in two-dimensional MoSi2X4(X = N, P, and As) Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2021;23:3144–3151. doi: 10.1039/D0CP05926A. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Mortazavi B., Javvaji B., Shojaei F., Rabczuk T., Shapeev A.V., Zhuang X.Y. Valley pseudospin in monolayer MoSi2N4 and MoSi2As4. Phys. Rev. B. 2021;103:035308. [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Blöchl P.E. Projector augmented-wave method. Phys. Rev. B. 1994;50:17953. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.50.17953. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Kresse G., Furthmüller J. Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set. Phys. Rev. B. 1996;54:11169. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.54.11169. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Perdew J.P., Burke K., Ernzerhof M. Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1996;77:3865–3868. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Heyd J., Scuseria G.E., Ernzerhof M. Hybrid Functionals Based on a Screened Coulomb Potential. J. Chem. Phys. 2003;118:8207–8215. doi: 10.1063/1.1564060. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Grimme S., Antony J., Ehrlich S., Krieg H.A. consistent and accurate ab initio parametrization of density functional dispersion correction (DFT-D) for the 94 elements H-Pu. J. Chem. Phys. 2010;132:154104. doi: 10.1063/1.3382344. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Togo A., Tanaka I. First Principles Phonon Calculations in Materials Science. Scr. Mater. 2015;108:1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2015.07.021. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Barnett R., Landman U. Born-Oppenheimer Molecular-Dynamics Simulations of Finite Systems: Structure and Dynamics of (H2O)2. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 1993;48:2081–2097. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.48.2081. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Taylor J., Guo H., Wang J. Ab Initio Modeling of Quantum Transport Properties of Molecular Electronic Devices. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 2001;63:245407. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.63.245407. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Guan J., Zhu Z., Tománek D. Phase Coexistence and Metal-Insulator Transition in Few-Layer Phosphorene: A Computational Study. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2014;113:46804. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.046804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Chen P.J., Jeng H.T. High Applicability of Two-dimensional Phosphorous in Kagome Lattice Predicted from First-principles Calculations. Sci. Rep. 2016;6:23151. doi: 10.1038/srep23151. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35.Ahmad S., Mukherjee S. A Comparative Study of Electronic Properties of Bulk MoS2 and Its Monolayer using DFT Technique: Application of Mechanical Strain on MoS2 Monolayer. Graphene. 2014;3:52–59. doi: 10.4236/graphene.2014.34008. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Lee C., Wei X., Kysar J.W., Hone J. Measurement of the elastic properties and intrinsic strength of monolayer graphene. Science. 2008;321:385–388. doi: 10.1126/science.1157996. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Michel K.H., Verberck B. Theory of Elastic and Piezoelectric Effects in Two-dimensional Hexagonal Boron Nitride. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 2009;80:224301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.224301. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Andrew R.C., Mapasha R.E., Ukpong A.M., Chetty N. Mechanical properties of graphene and boronitrene. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 2012;85:125428. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.125428. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 39.Yao H., Wang Q., Li J.W., Cai W.S., Wei Y.D., Wang B., Wang J. Two-dimensional few-layer PC3 as promising photocatalysts for overall water splitting. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2020;22:1485–1492. doi: 10.1039/D0CP01392G. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 40.Wang Q., Li J.W., Liang Y., Nie Y.N., Wang B. KAgSe: A New Two-Dimensional Efficient Photovoltaic Material with Layer-Independent Behaviors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2018;10:41670–41677. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b16505. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 41.Xie J., Zhang Z.Y., Yang D.Z., Xue D.S., Si M.S. Theoretical Prediction of Carrier Mobility in Few-Layer BC2N. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014;5:4073–4077. doi: 10.1021/jz502006z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 42.Qiao J., Kong X., Hu Z.X., Yang F., Ji W. High-mobility transport anisotropy and linear dichroism in few-layer black phosphorus. Nat. Commun. 2014;5:4475. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 43.Cui Y., Peng L., Sun L.P., Qian Q., Huang Y.C. Two-dimensional few-layer group-III metal monochalcogenides as effective photocatalysts for overall water splitting in the visible range. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2018;6:22768–22777. doi: 10.1039/C8TA08103D. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 44.Radisavljevic B., Radenovic A., Brivio J., Giacometti V., Kis A. Single-layer MoS2 Transistors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2011;6:147–150. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2010.279. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 45.Tan W.C., Huang L., Ng R.J., Wang L., Hasan D.N., Duffin T.J., Kumar K.S., Nijhuis C.A., Lee C., Ang K.W. A Black Phosphorus Carbide Infrared Phototransistor. Adv. Mater. 2018;30:1705039. doi: 10.1002/adma.201705039. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 46.Long M., Gao A., Wang P., Xia H., Ott C., Pan C., Fu Y., Liu E., Chen X., Lu W., et al. Room Temperature High-Detectivity Mid-Infrared Photodetectors Based on Black Arsenic Phosphorus. Sci. Adv. 2017;3:700589. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1700589. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 47.Kuzmenko A.B. Kramers-Kronig. Constrained Variational Analysis of Optical Spectra. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 2005;76:083108. doi: 10.1063/1.1979470. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 48.Gajdoš M., Hummer K., Kresse G., Furthmüller J., Bechstedt F. Linear Optical Properties in the Projector-Augmented Wave Methodology. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 2006;73:045112. [Google Scholar]
  • 49.Zhang L., Gong K., Chen J., Liu L., Zhu Y., Xiao D., Guo H. Generation and Transport of Valley-polarized Current in Transition-metal Dichalcogenides. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 2014;90:195428. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.90.195428. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 50.Xie Y., Zhang L., Zhu Y., Liu L., Guo H. Photogalvanic Effect in Monolayer Black Phosphorus. Nanotechnology. 2015;26:455202. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/26/45/455202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 51.Henrickson L.E. Nonequilibrium Photocurrent Modeling in Resonant Tunneling Photodetectors. J. Appl. Phys. 2002;91:6273–6281. doi: 10.1063/1.1473677. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 52.Pospischil A., Furchi M.M., Mueller T. Solar-energy conversion and light emission in an atomic monolayer p-n diode. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2014;9:257–261. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2014.14. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 53.Zhao P., Yang H., Li J., Jin H., Wei W., Yu L., Huang B., Dai Y. Design of New Photovoltaic Systems Based on Two-dimensional Group-IV Monochalcogenides for High Performance Solar Cells. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2017;5:24145–24152. doi: 10.1039/C7TA08097B. [DOI] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.


Articles from Nanomaterials are provided here courtesy of Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

RESOURCES