Black arsenic phosphorus–based photodetectors sense detect long-wave mid-infrared light with high detectivity at room temperature.

SnIP is the first atomic-scale double helical semiconductor featuring a 1.86 eV bandgap, high structural and mechanical flexibility, and reasonable thermal stability up to 600 K. It is accessible on a gram scale and consists of a racemic mixture of right- and left-handed double helices composed by [SnI] and [P] helices. SnIP nanorods <20 nm in diameter can be accessed mechanically and chemically within minutes.

Layered black phosphorus (BP) has attracted wide attention for mid-infrared photonics and high-speed electronics, due to its moderate band gap and high carrier mobility. However, its intrinsic band gap of around 0.33 electronvolt limits the operational wavelength range of BP photonic devices based on direct interband transitions to around 3.7 μm. In this work, we demonstrate that black arsenic phosphorus alloy (b-As P) formed by introducing arsenic into BP can significantly extend the operational wavelength range of photonic devices. The as-fabricated b-AsP photodetector sandwiched within hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) shows peak extrinsic responsivity of 190, 16, and 1.2 mA/W at 3.4, 5.0, and 7.7 μm at room temperature, respectively. Moreover, the intrinsic photoconductive effect dominates the photocurrent generation mechanism due to the preservation of pristine properties of b-AsP by complete hBN encapsulation, and these b-AsP photodetectors exhibit negligible transport hysteresis. The broad and large photoresponsivity within mid-infrared resulting from the intrinsic photoconduction, together with the excellent long-term air stability, makes b-AsP alloy a promising alternative material for mid-infrared applications, such as free-space communication, infrared imaging, and biomedical sensing.

Low dimensionality and high flexibility are key demands for flexible electronic semiconductor devices. SnIP, the first atomic‐scale double helical semiconductor combines structural anisotropy and robustness with exceptional electronic properties. The benefit of the double helix, combined with a diverse structure on the nanoscale, ranging from strong covalent bonding to weak van der Waals interactions, and the large structure and property anisotropy offer substantial potential for applications in energy conversion and water splitting. It represents the next logical step in downscaling the inorganic semiconductors from classical 3D systems, via 2D semiconductors like MXenes or transition metal dichalcogenides, to the first downsizeable, polymer‐like atomic‐scale 1D semiconductor SnIP. SnIP shows intriguing mechanical properties featuring a bulk modulus three times lower than any IV, III‐V, or II‐VI semiconductor. In situ bending tests substantiate that pure SnIP fibers can be bent without an effect on their bonding properties. Organic and inorganic hybrids are prepared illustrating that SnIP is a candidate to fabricate flexible 1D composites for energy conversion and water splitting applications. SnIP@C3N4 hybrid forms an unusual soft material core–shell topology with graphenic carbon nitride wrapping around SnIP. A 1D van der Waals heterostructure is formed capable of performing effective water splitting.

SnIP could be the first of a new class of inorganic double-helix materials. [7][8][9] With strong intra-helix covalent bonds and weak inter-helix dispersion forces, SnIP belongs to the group of newly emerging 1D van der Waals (vdW) materials with potential applications in nanoelectronics and photonics. [10][11][12][13] In contrast to the DNA structure, which consists of two equal radius helices, SnIP forms with an outer [SnI] + helix wrapping around an inner [P] − helix, as pictured in Figure 1a. SnIP crystallizes monoclinically with a unit cell containing two opposite-handed double helices so that there is no net chirality. It is composed of abundant and non-toxic elements and can grow uninhibited to cm-length needles with a low-temperature synthesis [6,14] (Sections S1 and S2, Supporting Information) or in nanotubes using vapor deposition. [15,16] Its 1.86 eV band gap, as determined by band structure calculations (Figure 1b,c) and verified experimentally (see ref.[ 6 ] and Section S3, Supporting Information), is well situated for solar absorption and photocatalytic water splitting. [8,10,15] SnIP is also an extremely soft and flexible semiconductor and is therefore a promising material for applications in flexible electronics, [6,10] where these properties are highly desirable. [17] It is predicted to have a high carrier mobility; [8] however, as-grown SnIP is highly resistive so that the current lack of doped samples has made it difficult to explore its electronic properties. [6] Moreover, despite the exciting properties and unique structure of SnIP, there have been no investigations probing its ultrafast photophysical properties.Here, we use time-resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy (TRTS) to study picosecond charge carrier dynamics in SnIP nanowire films, as shown in Figure 1d. TRTS, a powerful non-contact ultrafast probe, has been used extensively to probe carrier dynamics in low-dimensional materials, accelerating scientific understanding of transport mechanisms and enabling materials optimization for potential applications. [18,19] From analysis of the photoconductivity spectra, along with insight into the highly anisotropic energy landscape from density functional theory (DFT), we make the first measurement of the carrier mobility in SnIP. We find a maximum electron mobility of 280 cm 2 V −1 s −1 along the double-helix axis, an extraordinarily high mobility for a material as soft and flexible as SnIP. On Tin iodide phosphide (SnIP), an inorganic double-helix material, is a quasi-1D van der Waals semiconductor that shows promise in photocatalysis and flexible electronics. However, the understanding of the fundamental photophysics and charge transport dynamics of this new material is limited. Here, time-resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is used to probe the transient photoconductivity of SnIP nanowire films and measure the carrier mobility. With insight into the highly anisotropic electronic structure from quantum chemical calculations, an electron mobility as high as 280 cm 2 V −1 s −1 along the doub...