arXiv subjects

Michael Crommie

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Crommie.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Low Resistance Ohmic Contact to P-type Monolayer WSe2

Advanced microelectronics in the future may require semiconducting channel materials beyond silicon. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, characterized by their atomically thin thickness, hold immense promise for high-performance electronic devices at the nanometer scale with lower heat dissipation. One challenge for achieving high-performance 2D semiconductor field effect transistors (FET), especially for p-type materials, is the high electrical contact resistance present at the metal-semiconductor interface. In conventional bulk semiconductors, low resistance ohmic contact is realized through heavy substitutional doping with acceptor or donor impurities at the contact region. The strategy of substitutional doping, however, does not work for p-type 2D semiconductors such as monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe$_2$).In this study, we developed highly efficient charge-transfer doping with WSe$_2$/$\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ heterostructures to achieve low-resistance ohmic contact for p-type WSe$_2$ transistors. We show that a hole doping as high as 3$\times$10$^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ can be achieved in the WSe$_2/\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ heterostructure due to its type-III band alignment. It results in an Ohmic contact with resistance lower than 4 k Ohm $\mu$m at the p-type monolayer WSe$_2$/metal junction. at room temperature. Using this low-resistance contact, we demonstrate high-performance p-type WSe$_2$ transistors with a saturation current of 35 $\mu$A$\cdot$ $\mu$m$^{-1}$ and an I$_{ON}$/I$_{OFF}$ ratio exceeding 10$^9$ It could enable future microelectronic devices based on 2D semiconductors and contribute to the extension of Moore's law.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Correlated interlayer exciton insulator in double layers of monolayer WSe2 and moir\'e WS2/WSe2

Moir\'e superlattices in van der Waals heterostructures have emerged as a powerful tool for engineering novel quantum phenomena. Here we report the observation of a correlated interlayer exciton insulator in a double-layer heterostructure composed of a WSe2 monolayer and a WS2/WSe2 moir\'e bilayer that are separated by an ultrathin hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The moir\'e WS2/WSe2 bilayer features a Mott insulator state at hole density p/p0 = 1, where p0 corresponds to one hole per moir\'e lattice site. When electrons are added to the Mott insulator in the WS2/WSe2 moir\'e bilayer and an equal number of holes are injected into the WSe2 monolayer, a new interlayer exciton insulator emerges with the holes in the WSe2 monolayer and the electrons in the doped Mott insulator bound together through interlayer Coulomb interactions. The excitonic insulator is stable up to a critical hole density of ~ 0.5p0 in the WSe2 monolayer, beyond which the system becomes metallic. Our study highlights the opportunities for realizing novel quantum phases in double-layer moir\'e systems due to the interplay between the moir\'e flat band and strong interlayer electron interactions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Tuning color centers at a twisted interface

Color center is a promising platform for quantum technologies, but their application is hindered by the typically random defect distribution and complex mesoscopic environment. Employing cathodoluminescence, we demonstrate that an ultraviolet-emitting single photon emitter can be readily activated and controlled on-demand at the twisted interface of two hexagonal boron nitride flakes. The brightness of the color center can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude by altering the twist angle. Additionally, a brightness modulation of nearly 100% of this color center is achieved by an external voltage. Our ab-initio GW calculations suggest that the emission is correlated to nitrogen vacancies and that a twist-induced moir\'e potential facilitates electron-hole recombination. This mechanism is further exploited to draw nanoscale color center patterns using electron beams.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Ultra-high-resolution imaging of moir\'e lattices and superstructures using scanning microwave impedance microscopy under ambient conditions

Two-dimensional heterostructures with layers of slightly different lattice vectors exhibit a new periodic structure known as moire lattices. Moire lattice formation provides a powerful new way to engineer the electronic structure of two-dimensional materials for realizing novel correlated and topological phenomena. In addition, superstructures of moire lattices can emerge from multiple misaligned lattice vectors or inhomogeneous strain distribution, which offers an extra degree of freedom in the electronic band structure design. High-resolution imaging of the moire lattices and superstructures is critical for quantitative understanding of emerging moire physics. Here we report the nanoscale imaging of moire lattices and superstructures in various graphene-based samples under ambient conditions using an ultra-high-resolution implementation of scanning microwave impedance microscopy. We show that, quite remarkably, although the scanning probe tip has a gross radius of ~100 nm, an ultra-high spatial resolution in local conductivity profiles better than 5 nm can be achieved. This resolution enhancement not only enables to directly visualize the moire lattices in magic-angle twisted double bilayer graphene and composite super-moire lattices, but also allows design path toward artificial synthesis of novel moire superstructures such as the Kagome moire from the interplay and the supermodulation between twisted graphene and hexagonal boron nitride layers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Optical detection of Mott and generalized Wigner crystal states in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices

Moiré superlattices are emerging as a new route for engineering strongly correlated electronic states in two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures, as recently demonstrated in the correlated insulating and superconducting states in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene and ABC trilayer graphene/boron nitride moiré superlattices. Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) moiré heterostructures provide another exciting model system to explore correlated quantum phenomena, with the addition of strong light-matter interactions and large spin-orbital coupling. Here we report the optical detection of strongly correlated phases in semiconducting WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices. Our sensitive optical detection technique reveals a Mott insulator state at one hole per superlattice site (ν = 1), and surprising insulating phases at fractional filling factors ν = 1/3 and 2/3, which we assign to generalized Wigner crystallization on an underlying lattice. Furthermore, the unique spin-valley optical selection rules of TMDC heterostructures allow us to optically create and investigate low-energy spin excited states in the Mott insulator. We reveal an especially slow spin relaxation lifetime of many microseconds in the Mott insulating state, orders-of-magnitude longer than that of charge excitations. Our studies highlight novel correlated physics that can emerge in moiré superlattices beyond graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Short-Channel Field Effect Transistors with 9-Atom and 13-Atom wide Graphene Nanoribbons

Bottom-up synthesized GNRs and GNR heterostructures have promising electronic properties for high performance field effect transistors (FETs) and ultra-low power devices such as tunnelling FETs. However, the short length and wide band gap of these GNRs have prevented the fabrication of devices with the desired performance and switching behaviour. Here, by fabricating short channel (Lch ~20 nm) devices with a thin, high-k gate dielectric and a 9-atom wide (0.95 nm) armchair GNR as the channel material, we demonstrate FETs with high on-current (Ion >1 uA at Vd = -1 V) and high Ion/Ioff ~10^5 at room temperature. We find that the performance of these devices is limited by tunnelling through the Schottky barrier (SB) at the contacts and we observe an increase in the transparency of the barrier by increasing the gate field near the contacts. Our results thus demonstrate successful fabrication of high performance short-channel FETs with bottom-up synthesized armchair GNRs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗