Vertical heterojunctions of two two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable attention recently. A variety of heterojunctions can be constructed by stacking different TMDs to form fundamental building blocks in different optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes. However, these applications are significantly hampered by the challenges of large-scale production of van der Waals stacks of atomically thin materials. Here, we demonstrate scalable production of periodic patterns of few-layer WS2, MoS2, and their vertical heterojunction arrays by a thermal reduction sulfurization process. In this method, a two-step chemical vapor deposition approach was developed to effectively prevent the phase mixing of TMDs in an unpredicted manner, thus affording a well-defined interface between WS2 and MoS2 in the vertical dimension. As a result, large-scale, periodic arrays of few-layer WS2, MoS2, and their vertical heterojunctions can be produced with desired size and density. Photodetectors based on the as-produced MoS2/WS2 vertical heterojunction arrays were fabricated, and a high photoresponsivity of 2.3 A·W(-1) at an excitation wavelength of 450 nm was demonstrated. Flexible photodetector devices using MoS2/WS2 heterojunction arrays were also demonstrated with reasonable signal/noise ratio. The approach in this work is also applicable to other TMD materials and can open up the possibilities of producing a variety of vertical van der Waals heterojunctions in a large scale toward optoelectronic applications.

Metal-halide perovskites have been hailed as remarkable materials for photovoltaic devices and, recently, their star has also been on the rise in optoelectronics and photonics. In particular, the optical properties of a metal-halide perovskite can be widely manipulated once its bulk structure has been reduced to a low-dimensional structure, allowing multiple functionalities of light generation, emission, transmission, and detection to be realized in one material. In this paper, we highlight the recent advances in the synthesis of low-dimensional metal-halide perovskites and their unique properties as well as their novel optoelectronic and photonic applications. It is anticipated that this review can serve as an overview and evaluation of state-of-the-art synthesis techniques as well as nanoscale optoelectronics and photonics based on low-dimensional perovskite nanocrystals.

Ion migration in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites has been suggested to be an important factor for many unusual behaviors in perovskite-based optoelectronics, such as current-voltage hysteresis, low-frequency giant dielectric response, and the switchable photovoltaic effect. However, the role played by ion migration in the photoelectric conversion process of perovskites is still unclear. In this work, we provide microscale insights into the influence of ion migration on the microstructure, stability, and light-matter interaction in perovskite micro/nanowires by using spatially resolved optical characterization techniques. We observed that ion migration, especially the migration of MA(+) ions, will induce a reversible structural swell-shrink in perovskites and recoverably affect the reflective index, quantum efficiency, light-harvesting, and photoelectric properties. The maximum ion migration quantity in perovskites was as high as approximately 30%, resulting in lattice swell or shrink of approximately 4.4%. Meanwhile, the evidence shows that ion migration in perovskites could gradually accelerate the aging of perovskites because of lattice distortion in the reversible structural swell-shrink process. Knowledge regarding reversible structural swell-shrink and recoverable optical properties may shed light on the development of optoelectronic and converse piezoelectric devices based on perovskites.