Frontiers in Chemistry (Oct 2021)

Tunable Schottky Barrier and Interfacial Electronic Properties in Graphene/ZnSe Heterostructures

  • Wenjun Xiao,
  • Tianyun Liu,
  • Yuefei Zhang,
  • Yuefei Zhang,
  • Zhen Zhong,
  • Xinwei Zhang,
  • Zijiang Luo,
  • Bing Lv,
  • Bing Lv,
  • Xun Zhou,
  • Xun Zhou,
  • Zhaocai Zhang,
  • Xuefei Liu,
  • Xuefei Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.744977
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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With a direct bandgap, two-dimensional (2D) ZnSe is a promising semiconductor material in photoelectric device fields. In this work, based on first-principles methods, we theoretically studied the modulation of the Schottky barrier height (SBH) by applying horizontal and vertical strains on graphene/ZnSe heterojunction. The results show that the inherent electronic properties of graphene and ZnSe monolayers are both well-conserved because of the weak van der Waals (vdW) forces between two sublayers. Under horizontal strain condition, the n(p)-type SBH decreases from 0.56 (1.62) eV to 0.21 (0.78) eV. By changing the interlayer distance in the range of 2.8 Å to 4.4 Å, the n(p)-type SBH decreases (increases) from 0.88 (0.98) eV to 0.21 (1.76) eV. These findings prove the SBH of the heterojunction to be tuned effectively, which is of great significance to optoelectronic devices, especially in graphene/ZnSe-based nano-electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Keywords