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Title: Substitutional transition metal doping in MoS 2 : a first-principles study
Abstract

Single-layer MoS2is a direct-gap semiconductor whose band edges character is dominated by the d-orbitals of the Mo atoms. It follows that substitutional doping of the Mo atoms has a significant impact on the material’s electronic properties, namely the size of the band gap and the position of the Fermi level. Here, density functional theory is used along with the G0W0method to examine the effects of substituting Mo with four different transition metal dopants: Nb, Tc, Ta, and Re. Nb and Ta possess one less valence electron than Mo does and are therefore p-type dopants, while Re and Tc are n-type dopants, having one more valence electron than Mo has. Four types of substitutional structures are considered for each dopant species: isolated atoms, lines, three-atom clusters centered on a S atom (c3s), and three-atom clusters centered on a hole (c3h). The c3h structure is found to be the most stable configuration for all dopant species. However, electronic structure calculations reveal that isolated dopants are preferable for efficient n- or p-type performance. Lastly, it is shown that photoluminescence measurements can provide valuable insight into the atomic structure of the doped material. Understanding these properties of substitutionally-doped MoS2can allow for its successful implementation into cutting-edge solid state devices.

 
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NSF-PAR ID:
10303246
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
IOP Publishing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Nano Express
Volume:
1
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2632-959X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
Article No. 010008
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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