WS₂ Nanotubes: Electrical Conduction and Field Emission Under Electron Irradiation and Mechanical Stress

Abstract

This study reports the electrical transport and the field emission properties of individual multi‐walled tungsten disulphide (WS2) nanotubes (NTs) under electron beam irradiation and mechanical stress. Electron beam irradiation is used to reduce the nanotube‐electrode contact resistance by one‐order of magnitude. The field emission capability of single WS2 NTs is investigated, and a field emission current density as high as 600 kA cm−2 is attained with a turn‐on field of ≈100 V μm−1 and field‐enhancement factor ≈50. Moreover, the electrical behavior of individual WS2 NTs is studied under the application of longitudinal tensile stress. An exponential increase of the nanotube resistivity with tensile strain is demonstrated up to a recorded elongation of 12%, thereby making WS2 NTs suitable for piezoresistive strain sensor applications.

A Current–Voltage Model for Double Schottky Barrier Devices

“…The details of the fabrication, characterization, and electrical measurements can be found elsewhere. [ 23,37,38 ]…”

“…[34][35][36] Figure 3a-c show the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of three nanodevices: the first is a MoS2 flake contacted with four Ti/Au leads, [37] the second is a WSe2 flake covered with Ni/Au contacts [23] and the third is a single WS2 nanotube stuck to two tungsten tips due to van der Waals interaction. [38] MoS2 and WSe2 flakes lay on an electrically grounded SiO2/p-Si substrate, while WS2 nanotube is suspended between the two tungsten tips. The details of the fabrication, characterization and electrical measurements can be found elsewhere.…”

Optoelectronic properties and strain regulation of the 2D WS2/ZnO van der Waals heterostructure

“…However, peculiar electronic behavior subjected to mechanical strain has been observed in ZnO and some TMDs recently. [21][22][23] Thus, a biaxial strain is applied to control the band edge position, regulate the band structure, and make it a good reducing agent in water splitting. At present, 2D MX 2 -based vdWs heterostructures are mainly achieved by transfer techniques.…”

Gate‐Controlled Field Emission Current from MoS2 Nanosheets

“…[ 32 ] Therefore, nanostructures (nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, and in general 2D materials), for their high aspect ratio and intrinsically sharp edges, are ideal FE sources. [ 22,33–43 ]…”