Tunable electronic and optical properties of SnC/BAs heterostructure by external electric field and vertical strain

Publication date: Available online 21 November 2019Source: Physics Letters AAuthor(s): R.Q. Sheng, X.Q. Deng, Z.H. Zhang, Z.Q. FanAbstractBased on the first-principles method, we investigate the electronic structure of SnC/BAs van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure and find that it has an intrinsic type-II band alignment with a direct band gap of 0.22 eV, which favors the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The band gap can be effectively modulated by applying vertical strain and external electric field, displaying a large alteration of band gap via the strain and experiencing an indirect-to-direct band gap transition. Moreover, the band gap of the heterostructure varies almost linearly with external electric field, and the semiconductor-to-metal transition can be realized in the presence of a strong electric field. The calculated band alignment and the optical absorption reveal that the SnC/BAs heterostructure could present an excellent light-harvesting performance. Our designed heterostructure is expected to have great potential applications in nanoelectronic devices and photovoltaics and optical properties.

Source: Physics Letters A - November 22, 2019 Category: Physics Source Type: research