Collective Electrostatics and Band Alignment in Janus MoSTe nanotubes

TL;DR

This study explores how collective electrostatic effects in Janus MoSTe nanotubes influence their band alignment, revealing potential for tuning electronic properties in nanostructure applications.

Contribution

It introduces a first-principles analysis and an analytical model to understand electrostatic potentials and band shifts in Janus nanotubes.

Findings

Janus nanotubes generate over 1.3 V electrostatic potential within pores.

Double wall MoSTe nanotubes exhibit a 1.0 eV band edge shift due to electrostatics.

Electrostatic effects enable tuning of band alignment for optoelectronic uses.

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the collective electrostatic effects of one-dimensional (1D) Janus MoSTe nanotubes and their impacts on the band alignment of nanotube heterostructures. Using first-principles calculations based on Density Functional Theory, we find that the Janus nanotube generates a large and uniform electrostatic potential of over 1.3 V within the nanotube pores, which is accumulative for double wall nanotubes. We develop an analytical model to provide a quantitative understanding of the electrostatic potential and its dependence on the quadrupole moment and nanotube radius. For double wall MoSTe nanotube, we find a substantial band edge shift of about 1.0 eV for the inner tube originated from the electrostatic effects, leading to a type-II band alignment. These results demonstrate that the electrostatic effects of 1D nanotubes can be used to tune the electronic properties and band alignment of 1D nanotube heterostructures for optoelectronic and catalytic applications.