22 research outputs found
First principles coupled cluster theory of the electronic spectrum of the transition metal dichalcogenides
The electronic properties of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) have attracted much attention during the last decade. We show how a diagrammatic ab initio coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) treatment paired with a careful thermodynamic limit extrapolation in two dimensions can be used to obtain converged band gaps for monolayer materials in the MoS₂ family. We find CCSD gaps to lie in the upper range of the spread of GW approximation based on density functional theory (DFT) simulations, and also find slightly higher effective hole masses compared to previous reports. We also investigate the ability of CCSD to describe trion states, finding a reasonable qualitative structure, but poor excitation energies due to the lack of screening of three-particle excitations in the effective Hamiltonian. Our study provides an independent high-level benchmark of the role of many-body effects in 2D TMDs and showcases the potential strengths and weaknesses of diagrammatic coupled cluster approaches for realistic materials
Electronic Transport in 2D Materials with Strong Spin-orbit Coupling
The thesis describes the computational study of structural, electonic and transport properties of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) in the stable 2H and the metastable 1T' phases. Several aspects have been covered by the study including the electronic properties of the topological quantum spin Hall (QSH) state in the 1T' monolayer phase as well as the effects of strain, periodic line defects, interfaces and edges of monolayer TMDs. The electronic properties of the bulk monolayer phases were described by the ab-initio density functional theory framework while the electronic and transport properties of 1D defects were calculated using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. A specific focus was made on the transport of spin-polarized charge carriers across line defects in the monolayer 2H phase. Subject to energy, pseudomomentum and spin conservation, the size of the transport gap is governed by both bulk properties of a material and symmetries of a line defect. Outside the transport gap energy region, the charge carriers are discriminated with respect to their spin resulting in the spin polarization of the transmitted current. Next, the properties of the metastable monolayer 1T' phase were studied. The presence of a sufficiently large band gap is crucial to observe the QSH phase in the family of materials by probing the topological boundary states. The meV-order band gaps of the 1T' phase of monolayer TMDs were found to be sensitive to materials' lattice constants suggesting the control of the band gap size by strain. In particular, the electronic band structure and the size of the band gap in monolayer 1T'-WSe2 were found to be in agreement with spectroscopy studies. The topologically protected states at the edges of the monolayer 1T' phase as well as at the boundaries between the topological 1T' phase and the trivial 2H phase of monolayer TMDs were studied. Specific atomic structure configurations were suggested to observe experimentally the topological protection of the charge carrier transport against back-scattering. Finally, in the context of lateral semiconducting device engineering, the electronic and transverse transport properties of 2H-1T' phase boundaries as well as the dimerization defects in the 1T' phase were investigated. Both kinds of defects considered exhibit a relatively large transmission probability for the charge carriers crossing the defects. However, the differences between the shapes of bulk bands of the two phases open a sizeable transport gap for charge carriers crossing periodic domain boundaries between the monolayer 2H and 1T' phases. The calculated formation energies of dimerization defects were found to be relatively low suggesting their high concentration in real samples of monolayer 1T'-TMDs. Additionally, the thesis includes studies of magnetic dopants on the surface of Bi2Te3 and atomic vacancies in monolayer 2H-MoSe2 where the electronic properties of point defects were calculated and compared to experimental results. The two possible adsorption sites of Fe on the surface of Bi2Te3 both show a large out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in agreement with experiments. The calculated local electronic properties of Se vacancies in monolayer 2H-MoSe2 show the presence of in-gap states which are not observed in experiment. Nevertheless, the combination of theoretical and experimental scanning tunneling microscopy images allowed the unambiguous identification of the vacancy defect
Controlling the quantum spin Hall edge states in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides
Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) of Mo and W in their
1T' crystalline phase host the quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator phase. We
address the electronic properties of the QSH edge states by means of
first-principles calculations performed on realistic models of edge
terminations of different stoichiometries. The QSH edge states show a tendency
to have complex band dispersions and coexist with topologically trivial edge
states. We nevertheless identify two stable edge terminations that allow
isolating a pair of helical edge states within the band gap of TMDs, with
monolayer 1T'-WSe2 being the most promising material. We also characterize the
finite-size effects in the electronic structure of 1T'-WSe2 nanoribbons. Our
results provide a guidance to the experimental studies and possible practical
applications of QSH edge states in monolayer 1T'-TMDs.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures + S
First principles coupled cluster theory of the electronic spectrum of the transition metal dichalcogenides
The electronic properties of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) have attracted much attention during the last decade. We show how a diagrammatic ab initio coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) treatment paired with a careful thermodynamic limit extrapolation in two dimensions can be used to obtain converged band gaps for monolayer materials in the MoS₂ family. We find CCSD gaps to lie in the upper range of the spread of GW approximation based on density functional theory (DFT) simulations, and also find slightly higher effective hole masses compared to previous reports. We also investigate the ability of CCSD to describe trion states, finding a reasonable qualitative structure, but poor excitation energies due to the lack of screening of three-particle excitations in the effective Hamiltonian. Our study provides an independent high-level benchmark of the role of many-body effects in 2D TMDs and showcases the potential strengths and weaknesses of diagrammatic coupled cluster approaches for realistic materials
Spintromechanics of a Magnetic Nanoshuttle
We investigate theoretically the prospects for using a magnetic
nanoelectromechanical single-electron tunneling (NEM-SET) device as an
electronic spin filter. We find that strong magnetic exchange forces on the net
spin of the mobile central dot of the NEM-SET structure lead to spin-dependent
mechanical displacements ("spin polarons"), which give rise to vastly different
tunnelling probabilities for electrons of different spin. The resulting spin
polarization of the current can be controlled by bias and gate voltages and be
very close to 100% at voltages and temperatures below a characteristic
correlation energy set by the sum of the polaronic and Coulomb blockade
energies.Comment: Accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev. B and
selected as an "Editors' Suggestion" paper. This version has minor
modifications compared to arXiv:1205.2979, which it replace
Identifying substitutional oxygen as a prolific point defect in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides with experiment and theory
Chalcogen vacancies are considered to be the most abundant point defects in
two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors, and
predicted to result in deep in-gap states (IGS). As a result, important
features in the optical response of 2D-TMDs have typically been attributed to
chalcogen vacancies, with indirect support from Transmission Electron
Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) images. However, TEM
imaging measurements do not provide direct access to the electronic structure
of individual defects; and while Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) is a
direct probe of local electronic structure, the interpretation of the chemical
nature of atomically-resolved STM images of point defects in 2D-TMDs can be
ambiguous. As a result, the assignment of point defects as vacancies or
substitutional atoms of different kinds in 2D-TMDs, and their influence on
their electronic properties, has been inconsistent and lacks consensus. Here,
we combine low-temperature non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), STS,
and state-of-the-art ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and GW
calculations to determine both the structure and electronic properties of the
most abundant individual chalcogen-site defects common to 2D-TMDs.
Surprisingly, we observe no IGS for any of the chalcogen defects probed. Our
results and analysis strongly suggest that the common chalcogen defects in our
2D-TMDs, prepared and measured in standard environments, are substitutional
oxygen rather than vacancies
Atomic Scale Microstructure and Properties of Se-Deficient Two-Dimensional MoSe2
We study the atomic scale microstructure of non-stoichiometric two-dimensional(2D) transition metal dichalcogenide MoSe2-x, by employing aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. We show that a Se-deficit in single layers of MoSe2 grown by molecular beam epitaxy gives rise to a dense network of mirror-twin-boundaries (MTBs) decorating the 2D-grains. With the use of density functional theory calculations, we further demonstrate that MTBs are thermodynamically stable structures in Se-deficient sheets. These line defects host spatially localized states with energies close to the valence band minimum, thus giving rise to enhanced conductance along straight MTBs. However, electronic transport calculations show that-the transmission of hole charge carriers across MTBs is strongly suppressed due to band bending effects. We further observe formation of MTBs during in situ removal of Se atoms by the electron beam of the microscope, thus confirming that MTBs appear due-to Se-deficit, and not coalescence of individual grains during growth. At a very high local Se-deficit, the 2D sheet becomes unstable and transforms to a nanowire. Our results on Se-deficient MoSe2 suggest routes toward engineering the properties of 2D transition Metal dichalcogenides by deviations from the stoichiometric composition
Recommended from our members
Manipulating Topological Domain Boundaries in the Single-layer Quantum Spin Hall Insulator 1T’–WSe_2
We report the creation and manipulation of structural phase boundaries in the single-layer quantum spin Hall insulator 1T′–WSe_2 by means of scanning tunneling microscope tip pulses. We observe the formation of one-dimensional interfaces between topologically nontrivial 1T′ domains having different rotational orientations, as well as induced interfaces between topologically nontrivial 1T′ and topologically trivial 1H phases. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements show that 1T′/1T′ interface states are localized at domain boundaries, consistent with theoretically predicted unprotected interface modes that form dispersive bands in and around the energy gap of this quantum spin Hall insulator. We observe a qualitative difference in the experimental spectral line shape between topologically “unprotected” states at 1T′/1T′ domain boundaries and protected states at 1T′/1H and 1T′/vacuum boundaries in single-layer WSe_2