Effects of energetic ion irradiation on WSe2/SiC heterostructures

Abstract

The remarkable electronic properties of layered semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) make them promising candidates for next-generation ultrathin, low-power, high-speed electronics. It has been suggested that electronics based upon ultra-thin TMDs may be appropriate for use in high radiation environments such as space. Here, we present the effects of irradiation by protons, iron, and silver ions at MeV-level energies on a WSe2/6H-SiC vertical heterostructure studied using XPS and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. It was found that with 2 MeV protons, a fluence of 1016 protons/cm2 was necessary to induce a significant charge transfer from SiC to WSe2, where a reduction of valence band offset was observed. Simultaneously, a new absorption edge appeared at 1.1 eV below the conduction band of SiC. The irradiation with heavy ions at 1016 ions/cm2 converts WSe2 into a mixture of WOx and Se-deficient WSe2. The valence band is also heavily altered due to oxidation and amorphization. However, these doses are in excess of the doses needed to damage TMD-based electronics due to defects generated in common dielectric and substrate materials. As such, the radiation stability of WSe2-based electronics is not expected to be limited by the radiation hardness of WSe2, but rather by the dielectric and substrate.

Recent Progress on Two‐Dimensional Heterostructures for Catalytic, Optoelectronic, and Energy Applications

“…The synthesis strategies [93][94][95][96] devoted to the preparation of 2D heterostructures could be classified into three main kinds, including exfoliation and transfer method, [97,98] chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, [99,100,101] and physical vapor deposition method (PVD). [29] The exfoliation and transfer method is dedicated to the exploration of vertical 2D heterostructures with vdW interlayer interactions.…”

Ultrafast Ionizing Radiation Detection by p–n Junctions Made with Single Crystals of Solution‐Processed Perovskite

“…[7] Consequently, bathocuproine (BCP) and C 60 are usually used as blocking layers to decrease the dark current. [10][11][12] Additionally, these low-mobility organic layers would significantly increase the difficulty of transporting the charges generated by photons to the electrodes. [10][11][12] Additionally, these low-mobility organic layers would significantly increase the difficulty of transporting the charges generated by photons to the electrodes.…”

“…The decreased sensitivity is mainly caused by the absorption depth. [12] However, for organometallic perovskites, the high defect tolerance could protect the device from radiation hardness. Consequently, 88.5% gamma photons pass through the device.…”

“…Although these blocking layers largely decrease the dark current, resulting in high detection performance, these spinning‐coated or thermal‐evaporated layers have weak tolerance to radiation, yielding added noise for high‐dose ionizing radiation detection . Additionally, these low‐mobility organic layers would significantly increase the difficulty of transporting the charges generated by photons to the electrodes.…”

Production Methods of Van der Waals Heterostructures Based on Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

“…Furthermore, the preparation of high quality MoS2-MoSe2 [55] (Figure 3a,b,c), MoSe2-WS2 [56], WSe2-SnSe2 [57], and MoS2-WSe2 [58,59] was achieved by this method as well. Shi et al [60] reported the fabrication of SiC with WSe2 surface flakes whose thickness ranged from several layers to several microns by this method and further studied the effects of energetic ion irradiation on such heterostructure. Lopez-Sanchez et al [61] showed the realization of electroluminescent devices and solar cells based on vertical heterojunctions composed of n-type monolayer MoS2 and p-type silicon.…”