Quasiparticle Band Gap Research Articles

Metallic-Substrate-Induced Renormalization of Quasiparticle Band Gaps and Excitonic Effects in Biphenylene Nanoribbons

Metallic-Substrate-Induced Renormalization of Quasiparticle Band Gaps and Excitonic Effects in Biphenylene Nanoribbons

Substantial Energy Band Modulation of Semiconducting Hexagonal GaTe Quantum Wells by Layer Thickness and Mirror Twin Boundaries.

Exploring emerging two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) semiconducting materials and precisely tuning their electronic properties at the atomic level have long been recognized as crucial issues for developing their high-end electronic and optoelectronic applications. As a III-VI semiconductor, ultrathin layered hexagonal GaTe (h-GaTe) remains unexplored in terms of its intrinsic electronic properties and band engineering strategies. Herein, we report the successful synthesis of ultrathin h-GaTe layers on a selected graphene/SiC(0001) substrate, via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The widely tunable quasiparticle band gaps (∼2.60-1.55 eV), as well as the vdW quantum well states (QWSs) that can be strictly counted by the layer numbers, are well characterized by onsite scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS), and their origins are clearly addressed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. More intriguingly, distinctive 8|8E and 4|4P (Ga) mirror twin boundaries (MTBs) are identified in the ultrathin h-GaTe flakes, which can induce decreased band gaps and prominent p-doping effects. This work should deepen our understanding on the electronic tunability of 2D III-VI semiconductors by thickness control and line defect engineering, which may hold promise for fabricating atomic-scale vertical and lateral homojunctions toward ultrascaled electronics and optoelectronics.

Empirical band-gap correction for LDA-derived atomic effective pseudopotentials

Atomic effective pseudopotentials enable atomistic calculations at the level of accuracy of density functional theory for semiconductor nanostructures with up to fifty thousand atoms. Since they are directly derived from ab-initio calculations performed in the local density approximation (LDA), they inherit the typical underestimated band gaps and effective masses. We propose an empirical correction based on the modification of the non-local part of the pseudopotential and demonstrate good performance for bulk binary materials (InP, ZnS, HgTe, GaAs) and quantum dots (InP, CdSe, GaAs) with diameters ranging from 1.0 nm to 4.45 nm. Additionally, we provide a simple analytic expression to obtain accurate quasiparticle and optical band gaps for InP, CdSe, and GaAs QDs, from standard LDA calculations.

Tailoring the optoelectronic properties of MoS2 for broadband photodetection: Showcasing an Ab-into study involving the quasi-particle correction within the Green’s function-based approximation

In this study, the electronic and structural characteristics of both bulk and monolayer hexagonal MoS2 material are studied within and beyond density functional theory (DFT) by considering one-shot GW corrections for an accurate band gap prediction. Interestingly, our computed quasiparticle (QP) bandgap of 1.36 eV and 3.33 eV for bulk and monolayer, respectively, is in excellent agreement with the experimental finding. The elucidation of the optical properties was estimated with the aid of the Bethe–Salpeter equation within the many-body perturbation theory (MPB). The computed optical transitions such as absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, refractive index, reflectivity, and electron energy loss function are in better agreement with the experimental data. Moreover, the new approach allows for the efficient inclusion of all conduction bands in GW calculations, significantly reducing computational costs compared to traditional methods. A good agreement of the lattice parameters, as well as the interlayer distance with the experimental findings, is observed by the inclusion of van der Waals (vdW) corrections. Besides the agreement with previously reported values, the evaluated band structure determined with the quasiparticle corrections shows that both bulk and monolayer MoS2 material exhibit semiconducting properties with direct and indirect band gaps, respectively. The calculation of the density of states reveals that the s-orbitals of S atoms and the d-orbitals of Mo are predominantly at the origin of the essential material properties secured at the Fermi level. The results of the study also point to the possibility of a foundation for creating physical structures with swift, decisive, directed, and long-range broadband photodetection capabilities.

Elucidating Solvatochromic Shifts in Two-Dimensional Photocatalysts by Solving the Bethe-Salpeter Equation Coupled with Implicit Solvation Method.

Many studies have focused on tailoring the photophysical properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials for photocatalytic (PC) or photoelectrochemical (PEC) applications. To understand the optical properties of 2D materials in solution, we established a computational method that combined the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) calculations with our GW-GPE method, allowing for GW/BSE-level calculations with implicit solvation described using the generalized Poisson equation (GPE). We applied this method to MoS2, phosphorene (PP), and g-C3N4 and found that when the solvent dielectric increased, it reduced the exciton binding energy and quasiparticle bandgap, resulting in almost no solvatochromic shift in the excitonic peaks of MoS2 and PP, which is consistent with previous experiments. However, our calculations predicted that the solvent dielectric had a significant impact on the excitonic properties of g-C3N4, exhibiting a large solvatochromic shift. We expect that our GW/BSE-GPE method will offer insights into the design of 2D materials for PC and PEC applications.

Straintronics with single-layer MoS2 : A quantum Monte Carlo study

Using state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods, we study straintronic properties of a single MoS2 monolayer. 2D MoS2 is a quintessential straintronic material for which many experiments have been performed. First, we determine the equilibrium atomic structure which is not known experimentally and is strictly needed to correctly determine the straintronic properties. That enables us to precisely analyze the quasiparticle band gaps for any applied biaxial strain, which we describe by a bivariate paraboloid function of lattice constant and internal structural parameter. Using the fixed-node QMC calculations fitted by analytical formulas, we localize the following excited state crossings between the direct, K→K, and indirect Γ→X and K→K/2 excitations. Based on this highly accurate many-body treatment, we predict a gauge factor of 136 meV/% for the K→K transition and a fairly narrow window of ≈2.8% from compressive to mildly tensile strains, accounting for only ≈0.3 eV band gap change maintaining the direct character of the gap. Consequently, we suggest that, compared to other 2D materials, such as phosphorene, there is only a limited straintronic tuneability in this material often studied for its straintronic properties. QMC results are compared to results of standard DFT modeling, which reveal insights into the corresponding inaccuracies and therefore open a window for educated use of rapid DFT approaches. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Tuning of excitons in phosphorene atomic chains

An universal scaling between the exciton binding energy and quasiparticle (QP) band gap was first discovered in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors such as graphene derivatives, various transition materials dichalcogenides, and black phosphorus (Choi et al 2015 Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 066403; Jiang et al 2017 Phys. Rev. Lett. 118 266401), and later extended to quasi one-dimensional (1D) systems such as carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons. In this work we study the excitonic states in phosphorene atomic chains by using the exact diagonalization method and show that the linear scaling between the exciton binding energy (Ex ) and QP shift () can be easily tuned by the dielectric environment. In the presence of weak screening, Ex is seen to increase with and exhibits a similar scaling as those 2D materials. As the screening becomes stronger, however, the dependence is found to be reversed, i.e. Ex now decreases when increases. More interestingly, we also reveal that Ex may even become nearly constant, independent on the system dimension and when the screening reaches a certain strength. These abnormal scaling relations are attributed to the complex nature of excitons in the strongly correlated 1D system.

Optical spectrum of ferrovalley materials: A case study of Janus H-VSSe

As opposed to the prototypical MoS2 with centroasymmetry, Janus ferrovalley materials such as H-VSSe are less symmetric with the mirror symmetry and time reversal symmetry broken, and hence possess spontaneous valley polarization and strong ferroelasticity. The optical transition is an important means to excite the valley carriers. We investigate the optical spectrum of H-VSSe by using the many-body perturbation-based GW approach and solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation (BSE) to include the electron–hole interactions. It is found that after the GW correction, the band gaps of the quasiparticle bands are much larger than those obtained by the normal density functional theory. The system is ferromagnetic and the valley gaps become non-degenerate due to spin–orbit coupling (SOC). The position of the lowest BSE peak is much lower than the quasiparticle band gap, indicating that the excitonic effect is large. The peak is split into two peaks by the SOC. The binding energy difference between these two BSE peaks is about the same as the difference between the inequivalent valley gaps. Our results show that in Janus H-VSSe the two lowest exciton peaks are from the two inequivalent valleys with different gaps, in contrast to the A and B exciton peaks of MoS2 which are from the same valley.

Native Pb vacancy defects induced p-type characteristic in epitaxial monolayer PbSe

PbSe, a predicted two-dimensional (2D) topological crystalline insulator (TCI) in the monolayer limit, possess excellent thermoelectric and infrared optical properties. Native defects in PbSe take a crucial role for the applications. However, little attention has been paid to the defect induced doping characteristics. Here, we provide an experimental and theoretical investigation of defect induced p-type characteristic on epitaxial monolayer PbSe on Au(111). Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements demonstrate an epitaxial PbSe monolayer with a fourfold symmetric lattice. Combined scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal a quasi-particle bandgap of 0.8 eV of PbSe. STM results unveil that there are two types of defects on the surface, one is related the vacancies of Pb atoms and the other is the replacement of the absent Se atoms by Pb. Corresponding theoretical optimization confirms the structures of the defects. More importantly, both STS measurements and DFT calculations give evidence that the Pb vacancies move the Fermi energy inside the valence band and produce extra holes, leading to p-type characteristics of PbSe. Our work provides effective information for the future research of device performance based on PbSe films.

First-principles study on the electronic and optical properties of AlSb monolayer

Using density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory, we systematically investigate the optoelectronic properties of AlSb monolayer, which has been recently synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy [ACS Nano 2021, 15, 5, 8184–8191]. After confirming the dynamical stability of the monolayer, we analyze its electronic properties at different levels of theory without (PBE, HSE03, HSE06) and with (G_0W_0, GW_0, and GW) electron-electron interaction. The results show that AlSb monolayer is a semiconductor with a direct quasiparticle band gap of 1.35 eV while its electronic structure is dominated by spin-orbit coupling. Also, we study the optical properties of the monolayer by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation. In this regard, the effects of spin-orbit coupling, electron–electron correlation, and electron–hole interaction on the optical spectrum of the monolayer are evaluated. Based on the highest level of theory, the first bright exciton is found to be located at 0.97 eV, in excellent agreement with the experimental value (0.93 eV). Moreover, the exciton binding energy, effective mass, and Bohr radius are obtained 0.38 eV, 0.25 m_0, and 6.31 Å, respectively. This work provides a better understanding of the electronic, optical, and excitonic properties of AlSb monolayer and may shed light on its potential applications.

The MoS2-Graphene-Sapphire Heterostructure: Influence of Substrate Properties on the MoS2 Band Structure

Van der Waals MoS2/graphene heterostructures are promising candidates for advanced electronics and optoelectronics beyond graphene. Herein, scanning probe methods and Raman spectroscopy were applied for analysis of the electronic and structural properties of monolayer (ML) and bilayer 2H-MoS2 deposited on single-layer graphene (SLG)-coated sapphire (S) substrates by means of an industrially scalable metal organic chemical vapor deposition process. The SLG/S substrate shows two regions with distinctly different morphology and varied interfacial coupling between SLG and S. ML MoS2 nanosheets grown on the almost free-standing graphene show no detectable interface coupling to the substrate, and a value of 2.23 eV for the MoS2 quasiparticle bandgap is determined. However, if the graphene is involved in hydrogen bonds to the hydroxylated sapphire surface, an increased MoS2/graphene interlayer coupling results, marked by a shift of the conduction band edge toward Fermi energy and a reduction of the ML MoS2 quasiparticle bandgap to 1.98 eV. The surface topography reveals a buckle structure of ML MoS2 in conformity with SLG that is used to determine the dependence of the ML MoS2 bandgap on the interfacial spacing of this heterostructure. In addition, an in-gap acceptor state about 0.9 eV above the valence band minimum of MoS2 has been observed on locally elevated positions on both SLG/S regions, which is attributed to local bending strain in the grown MoS2 nanosheets. These fundamental insights reveal the impact of the underlying substrate on the topography and the band alignment of the ML MoS2/SLG heterostructure and provide the possibility for engineering the quasiparticle bandgap of ML MoS2/SLG grown on controlled substrates that may impact the performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices therewith.

Quasiparticle and Optical Properties of Carrier-Doped Monolayer MoTe2 from First Principles.

The intrinsic weak and highly nonlocal dielectric screening of two-dimensional materials is well-known to lead to high sensitivity of their optoelectronic properties to environment. Less studied theoretically is the role of free carriers in those properties. Here, we use ab initio GW and Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations, with a rigorous treatment of dynamical screening and local-field effects, to study the doping dependence of the quasiparticle and optical properties of a monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide, 2H MoTe2. We predict a quasiparticle band gap renormalization of several hundreds of meV for experimentally attainable carrier densities and a similarly sizable decrease in the exciton binding energy. This results in an almost constant excitation energy for the lowest-energy exciton resonance with an increasing doping density. Using a newly developed and generally applicable plasmon-pole model and a self-consistent solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, we reveal the importance of accurately capturing both dynamical and local-field effects to understand detailed photoluminescence measurements.

Creating a Nanoscale Lateral Junction in a Semiconductor Monolayer with a Large Built-in Potential

The ability to engineer atomically thin nanoscale lateral junctions is critical to lay the foundation for future two-dimensional (2D) device technology. However, the traditional approach to creating a heterojunction by direct growth of a heterostructure of two different materials constrains the available band offsets, and it is still unclear if large built-in potentials are attainable for 2D materials. The electronic properties of atomically thin semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are not static, and their exciton binding energy and quasiparticle band gap depend strongly on the proximal environment. Recent studies have shown that this effect can be harnessed to engineer the lateral band profile of a monolayer TMD to create a lateral electronic junction. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of a nanoscale lateral junction in monolayer MoSe2 by intercalating Se at the interface of an hBN/Ru(0001) substrate. The Se intercalation creates a spatially abrupt modulation of the local hBN/Ru work function, which is imprinted directly onto an overlying MoSe2 monolayer to create a lateral junction with a large built-in potential of 0.83 ± 0.06 eV. We spatially resolve the MoSe2 band profile and work function using scanning tunneling spectroscopy to map out the nanoscale depletion region. The Se intercalation also modifies the dielectric environment, influencing the local band gap renormalization and increasing the MoSe2 band gap by ∼0.26 ± 0.1 eV. This work illustrates that environmental proximity engineering provides a robust method to indirectly manipulate the band profile of 2D materials outside the limits of their intrinsic properties.

First-Principles Study of the Quasi-Particle and Excitonic Effect in o-BC2N: The GW + BSE Study

Ternary boron-carbon-nitride compounds are the hardest, chemically stable, and most applicable semiconductors in optoelectronic devices. We investigate the quasi-particle and excitonic properties of type II o-BC2N using many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). The state-of-the-art GW and BSE methods were used to determine the accurate band gap and excited-state characteristics of this material. We simulate the convergence test and structural optimization in DFT, which is the starting point for the GW calculation. We also compute the convergence test of the parameters in GW and BSE. As a result, the bandgap of our system is found to be 2.31 eV and 1.95 eV using the GW approximation and DFT-PBE, respectively. Since the valence and conduction band edges are located at different Brillouin zones, we decide that o-BC2N is an indirect bandgap semiconductor. In addition, by applying the scissor operator, we corrected the quasi-particle bandgap, which shows almost the same result as the GW approximation. Furthermore, using the BSE algorithm, we calculate the optical bandgap of type II o-BC2N to be 4.0 eV with the excitonic effect and 4.4 eV without the excitonic effect. The highest peaks of the imaginary dielectric function with the excitonic effect shift to a lower energy level at 11 eV than without the excitonic effect at 13.5 eV. The electron charge distribution is computed by fixing the hole position. Finally, we suggest that type II o-BC2N is promising for the application of optoelectronic semiconductors.

High-performance lead-free quaternary antiperovskite photovoltaic candidate Ca6N2AsSb.

Accurate many-body perturbation theory-based calculations were used to study the electronic and excitonic properties of lead-free quaternary antiperovskite Ca6N2AsSb; large quasiparticle band gap renormalization, strong optical absorption, and low exciton binding energy, as well as high efficiency of >32% with a thickness of 500 nm were predicted.

High anisotropy in titanium trisulfide monolayer: Ultrahigh carrier mobilities and large excitonic absorption

Two-dimensional titanium trisulfide (TiS3) attracts much attention due to its high carrier mobilities and anisotropic physical properties. In this study, based on the ab-initio method, the vibrational, carrier transport and excitonic properties for TiS3 monolayer are investigated in detail. The results show that highly anisotropic structure of monolayer TiS3 leads to its anisotropic physical properties. The hole mobilities are larger than electron mobilities, which can be further enhanced by strain engineering. A strong absorption peak at 0.59 eV for light polarization along b direction is observed within the quasi-particle bandgap, which is 15 times larger than that at 0.98 eV for light polarization along a direction. The absorption peaks are contributed dominantly by bright excitons whose binding energies are 0.43 eV and 0.82 eV along a and b directions, both of which are delocalized Wannier-Mott types. The ultrahigh and flexibly strain-engineering transport properties and the significant excitonic effects of anisotropic TiS3 monolayer make possible applications in flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Probing Excitonic Rydberg States by Plasmon Enhanced Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy in Monolayer WS2 at Room Temperature.

The optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers such as WS2 are largely dominated by excitons due to strong Coulomb interactions in these 2D confined monolayers, which lead to formation of Rydberg-like excitonic states below the free quasiparticle band gap. The precise knowledge of high order Rydberg excitonic states is of great importance for both fundamental understanding such as many-electron effects and device applications such as optical switching and quantum process information. Bright excitonic states could be probed by linear optical spectroscopy, while probing dark excitonic states generally requires nonlinear optical (NLO) spectroscopy. Conventional optical methods for probing high-order Rydberg excitonic states were generally performed at cryogenic temperatures to ensure enough signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and narrow line width. Here we have designed a hybrid nanostructure of monolayer WS2 integrated with a plasmonic cavity and investigated their NLO properties at the single particle level. Giant enhancement in NLO responses, stronger excitonic resonance effects, and narrowed line widths of NLO excitation spectra were observed when monolayer WS2 was placed in our carefully designed plasmonic cavity. Optimum enhancement of 1000-, 3000-, and 3800-fold were achieved for two-photon photoluminescence (2PPL), second harmonic generation (SHG), and third-harmonic generation (THG), respectively, in the optimized cavity structure. The line width of SHG excitation spectra was reduced from 43 down to 15 meV. Plasmon enhanced NLO responses brought improved SNR and spectral resolution, which allowed us to distinguish discrete excitonic states with small energy differences at room temperature. By using three complementary NLO techniques in combination with linear optical spectroscopy, energies of Rydberg excitonic states of A (1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s), B (1s), and C and D excitons of monolayer WS2 have been accurately determined, which allow us to determine exciton binding energy and quasiparticle bandgap. It was interesting to find that the 2p lies 30 meV below 2s, which lends strong support to the theoretical prediction of nonlocal dielectric screening effects based on a non-hydrogenic model. Our results show that plasmon enhanced NLO spectroscopy could serve as a general method for probing high order Rydberg excitonic states of 2D materials.

Spinor GW /Bethe-Salpeter calculations in BerkeleyGW: Implementation, symmetries, benchmarking, and performance

Computing the $GW$ quasiparticle bandstructure and Bethe-Salpeter Equation (BSE) absorption spectra for materials with spin-orbit coupling has commonly been done by treating $GW$ corrections and spin-orbit coupling as separate perturbations to density-functional theory. However, accurate treatment of materials with strong spin-orbit coupling often requires a fully relativistic approach using spinor wavefunctions in the Kohn-Sham equation and $GW$/BSE. Such calculations have only recently become available, in particular for the BSE. We have implemented this approach in the plane-wave pseudopotential $GW$/BSE code BerkeleyGW, which is highly parallelized and widely used in the electronic-structure community. We present reference results for quasiparticle bandstructures and optical absorption spectra of solids with different strengths of spin-orbit coupling, including Si, Ge, GaAs, GaSb, CdSe, Au, and Bi$_2$Se$_3$. The calculated quasiparticle band gaps of these systems are found to agree with experiment to within a few tens of meV. The absorption spectrum of GaSb calculated with the fully-relativistic $GW$-BSE captures the large spin-orbit splitting of peaks in the spectrum. For Bi$_2$Se$_3$, we find a drastic change in the low-energy bandstructure compared to that of DFT, with the fully-relativistic treatment of the $GW$ approximation correctly capturing the parabolic nature of the valence and conduction bands after including off-diagonal self-energy matrix elements. We present the detailed methodology, approach to spatial symmetries for spinors, comparison against other codes, and performance compared to spinless $GW$/BSE calculations and perturbative approaches to SOC. This work aims to spur further development of spinor $GW$/BSE methodology in excited-state research software.

Non-Dyson Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction Theory for Charged Excitations in Solids.

We present the first implementation and applications of non-Dyson algebraic diagrammatic construction theory for charged excitations in three-dimensional periodic solids (EA/IP-ADC). The EA/IP-ADC approach has a computational cost similar to the ground-state Møller-Plesset perturbation theory, enabling efficient calculations of a variety of crystalline excited-state properties (e.g., band structure, band gap, density of states) sampled in the Brillouin zone. We use EA/IP-ADC to compute the quasiparticle band structures and band gaps of several materials (from large-gap atomic and ionic solids to small-gap semiconductors) and analyze the errors of EA/IP-ADC approximations up to the third order in perturbation theory. Our work also reports the first-ever calculations of ground-state properties (equation-of-state and lattice constants) of three-dimensional crystalline systems using a periodic implementation of third-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP3).

GW Quasiparticle Energies and Bandgaps of Two-Dimensional Materials Immersed in Water.

Computational simulations have become of major interest to screen potential photocatalysts for optimal band edge positions which straddle the redox potentials. Unfortunately, these methods suffer from a difficulty in resolving the dynamic solvent response on the band edge positions. We have developed a computational method based on the GW approximation coupled with an implicit solvation model that solves a generalized Poisson equation (GPE), that is, GW-GPE. Using GW-GPE, we have investigated the band edge locations of (quasi) 2D materials immersed in water and found a good agreement with experimental data. We identify two contributions of the solvent effect, termed a "polarization-field effect" and an "environmental screening effect", which are found to be highly sensitive to the atomic and charge distribution of the 2D materials. We believe that the GW-GPE scheme can pave the way to predict band edge positions in solvents, enabling design of 2D material-based photocatalysts and energy systems.