High-Efficiency Monolayer Molybdenum Ditelluride Light-Emitting Diode and Photodetector

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Dec 19;10(50):43291-43298. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14076. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Abstract

Developing a high-efficiency and low-cost light source with emission wavelength transparent to silicon is an essential step toward silicon-based nanophotonic devices and micro/nano industry platforms. Here, a near-infrared monolayer MoTe2 light-emitting diode (LED) has been demonstrated and its emission wavelength is transparent to silicon. By taking advantage of the quantum tunneling effect, the device has achieved a very high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9.5% at 83 K, which is the highest EQE obtained from LED devices fabricated from monolayer TMDs so far. When the device is operated as a photodetector, the MoTe2 device exhibits a strong photoresponsivity at resonant wavelength 1145 nm. The low dark current of ∼5pA and fast response time 5.06 ms are achieved due to suppression of hBN tunneling layer. Our results open a new route for the investigation of novel near-infrared silicon integrated optoelectronic devices.

Keywords: light emitting diode; molybdenum ditelluride; near-infrared; quantum efficiency; tunneling effect.