Efficient Carrier-to-Exciton Conversion in Field Emission Tunnel Diodes Based on MIS-Type van der Waals Heterostack

We report on efficient carrier-to-exciton conversion and planar electroluminescence from tunnel diodes based on a metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) van der Waals heterostack consisting of few-layer graphene (FLG), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), and monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS₂). These devices exhibit excitonic electroluminescence with extremely low threshold current density of a few pA·μm^–2, which is several orders of magnitude lower compared to the previously reported values for the best planar EL devices. Using a reference dye, we estimate the EL quantum efficiency to be ∼1% at low current density limit, which is of the same order of magnitude as photoluminescence quantum yield at the equivalent excitation rate. Our observations reveal that the efficiency of our devices is not limited by carrier-to-exciton conversion efficiency but by the inherent exciton-to-photon yield of the material. The device characteristics indicate that the light emission is triggered by injection of hot minority carriers (holes) to n-doped WS₂ by Fowler–Nordheim tunneling and that hBN serves as an efficient hole-transport and electron-blocking layer. Our findings offer insight into the intelligent design of van der Waals heterostructures and avenues for realizing efficient excitonic devices