Interfacial electronic characteristics and tunable contact types in novel silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayers

Abstract

Silicene-based van der Waals (vdWs) heterstructures are expected to design novel nanoelectronic devices due to their intriguing properties. Here, we construct novel silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayers by vertically stacking silicene and Janus Ga2STe monolayer. Employing first-principles calculations, their interfacial electronic properties, Schottky barriers, and contact types are investigated systematically. The silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayers are verified to be favorable energetically and stable dynamically. We also find that the graphene-like Dirac cone is well preserved in the silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayer, suggesting a high carrier mobility. Depending on the stacking orders, an n-type or a p-type Schottky contact can be acquired at the silicene/Janus Ga2STe interface. More importantly, vertical strain and electric field can effectively tune the interfacial electronic properties and contact type in the silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayer. These findings can provide a useful guidance for designing controllable Schottky nanoelectronic devices based on silicene/Janus Ga2STe heterobilayers with high electronic performance.