Interfacial characteristics, Schottky contact, and optical performance of a graphene/Ga2SSe van der Waals heterostructure: Strain engineering and electric field tunability

Abstract

Two-dimensional graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures have received considerable interest because of their intriguing characteristics compared with the constituent single-layer two-dimensional materials. Here, we investigate the interfacial characteristics, Schottky contact, and optical performance of $\mathrm{graphene}/{\mathrm{Ga}}_{2}\mathrm{SSe}$ van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure using first-principles calculations. The effects of stacking patterns, electric gating, and interlayer coupling on the interfacial properties of $\mathrm{graphene}/{\mathrm{Ga}}_{2}\mathrm{SSe}$ heterostructures are also examined. Our results demonstrate that the Dirac cone of graphene is well preserved at the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ point in all stacking patterns due to the weak vdW interactions, which keep the heterostructures feasible such that they can be obtained in further experiments. Moreover, depending on the stacking patterns, a small band gap of about 13--17 meV opens in graphene and has a high carrier mobility, indicating that the $\mathrm{graphene}/{\mathrm{Ga}}_{2}\mathrm{SSe}$ heterostructures are potential candidates for future high-speed nanoelectronic applications. In the ground state, the $\mathrm{graphene}/{\mathrm{Ga}}_{2}\mathrm{SSe}$ heterostructures form an $n$-type Schottky contact. The transformation from an $n$-type to a $p$-type Schottky contact or to an Ohmic contact can be forced by electric gating or by varying the interlayer coupling. Our findings could provide physical guidance for designing controllable Schottky nanodevices with high electronic and optical performances.