Band offsets and stability of WSe$_2$/RuCl$_3$ van der Waals charge-transfer contacts

Thomas S. Nielsen; Edvard Solbrekken; Christian Overby; Christian V-B. Fokdal; Alfred J. H. Jones; Zhihao Jiang; Chakradhar Sahoo; Kenji Watanabe; Takashi Taniguchi; Søren Ulstrup

arXiv · 2606.24199

Band offsets and stability of WSe$_2$/RuCl$_3$ van der Waals charge-transfer contacts

Thomas S. Nielsen·Edvard Solbrekken·Christian Overby·Christian V-B. Fokdal·Alfred J. H. Jones·Zhihao Jiang·Chakradhar Sahoo·Kenji Watanabe·Takashi Taniguchi·Søren Ulstrup

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Abstract

The layered Mott insulator $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ induces degenerate hole-doping in two-dimensional semiconductors due to its large electron affinity, making it a promising charge-transfer material for establishing ohmic contacts in electronic devices. In order to assess the applicability and guide the design of devices incorporating RuCl$_3$ it is critical to determine the electronic structure and robustness of the band offsets that underpin the transport properties of semiconductors in contact with RuCl$_3$. Here, we apply micro-focused angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to determine the electronic structure of single-layer WSe$_2$ contacted to RuCl$_3$ on hexagonal boron nitride substrates. We find that formation of a functioning WSe$_2$/RuCl$_3$ contact leads to a valence band shift of $(0.68 \pm 0.05)$ eV towards the Fermi energy in WSe$_2$. The charge transfer effect is challenging to observe as it depends sensitively on fabrication conditions such as solvent exposure, quality of interface encapsulation and heating of RuCl$_3$, imposing strict requirements on device design to attain high-quality contacts.

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Thomas S. Nielsen, Edvard Solbrekken, Christian Overby, Christian V-B. Fokdal, Alfred J. H. Jones, Zhihao Jiang, Chakradhar Sahoo, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Søren Ulstrup. 2026-06-23. Band offsets and stability of WSe$_2$/RuCl$_3$ van der Waals charge-transfer contacts. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24199

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