Twist angle-dependent conductivities across MoS2/graphene heterojunctions

• Published in: Nature communications 2018-10, Vol.9 (1), p.1-6, Article 4068
• Main Authors: Liao, Mengzhou, Wu, Ze-Wen, Du, Luojun, Zhang, Tingting, Wei, Zheng, Zhu, Jianqi, Yu, Hua, Tang, Jian, Gu, Lin, Xing, Yanxia, Yang, Rong, Shi, Dongxia, Yao, Yugui, Zhang, Guangyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 140/133; 147/137; 147/3; 639/301/357/1018; 639/925/357/1018; Conductivity; Contact resistance; Density functional theory; Graphene; Heterojunctions; Heterostructures; Humanities and Social Sciences; Molybdenum disulfide; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06555-w

Van der Waals heterostructures stacked from different two-dimensional materials offer a unique platform for addressing many fundamental physics and construction of advanced devices. Twist angle between the two individual layers plays a crucial role in tuning the heterostructure properties. Here we report the experimental investigation of the twist angle-dependent conductivities in MoS 2 /graphene van der Waals heterojunctions. We found that the vertical conductivity of the heterojunction can be tuned by ∼5 times under different twist configurations, and the highest/lowest conductivity occurs at a twist angle of 0°/30°. Density functional theory simulations suggest that this conductivity change originates from the transmission coefficient difference in the heterojunctions with different twist angles. Our work provides a guidance in using the MoS 2 /graphene heterojunction for electronics, especially on reducing the contact resistance in MoS 2 devices as well as other TMDCs devices contacted by graphene. Twisting vertically stacked individual layers of two-dimensional materials can trigger exciting fundamental physics and advanced electronic device applications. Here, the authors report five times enhancement in vertical heterojunction conductivity on rotating MoS 2 over graphene.