Anisotropic Schottky-barrier-height in high-symmetry 2D WSe$_2$: Momentum-space anisotropy

TL;DR

This paper reveals that high-symmetry 2D semiconductors like WSe$_2$ can exhibit significant momentum-space anisotropy affecting electronic properties and device performance, challenging the assumption that only low-symmetry 2D materials show such behavior.

Contribution

It demonstrates that high-symmetry 2D materials can have notable momentum-space anisotropy due to band structure, expanding the scope of anisotropic studies in 2D materials.

Findings

SBH varies significantly with direction in WSe$_2$-NbSe$_2$ heterostructures

Band-edge energies differ along perpendicular momentum directions

SBH anisotropy is mainly due to band structure, not interface structure

Abstract

It is usually supposed that only low-symmetry two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit anisotropy, here we show that high-symmetry 2D semiconductors can show significant anisotropy in momentum space due to the band structure anisotropy in k-space. The basic reason is that different k-points in the Brillouin zone have different symmetry. Using 2D semiconductor WSe$_2$ as the example, we construct lateral heterostructures with zigzag and armchair connections to 2D metal NbSe$_2$, and the electronic structure and contact characteristics of these two connections are analyzed. It is found that both connections exhibit p-type Schottky barrier height (SBH) but the sizes of SBH are very different (of 0.03 eV and 0.50 eV), mainly because the band-edge energies of WSe$_2$ are different along the two mutually perpendicular directions in momentum space. There are two factors contributing to the SBH anisotropy: one is the different interface structure and the other is the band edge anisotropy of the 2D semiconductor WSe$_2$. Since the two interface structures give only a difference in interface potential change by less than 0.1 eV, the SBH variation of ~0.47 eV is mainly from the band structure anisotropy in momentum-space. So, high-symmetry 2D materials may exhibit highly anisotropic electronic states in momentum space and this affects the transport properties. Our current work extends the research field of 2D material anisotropy to 2D materials with high real-space symmetry, thus greatly expands the candidate materials for anisotropic studies and provides new guidance for optimizing the performance of 2D material devices via controlling transport directions.