Strain and electric field induced electronic properties of two-dimensional hybrid bilayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides

Tunability of the electronic properties of two-dimensional bilayer hetero structures of transition-metal dichalcogenides (i.e., MX2- M′X′2 with (M, M′ = Mo, W; X, X′ = S, Se) is investigated. Application of both strain and electric field is found to modify the band gap and carrier effective mass in the hybrid bilayers considered. The calculated results based on density functional theory suggest that the tensile strain considerably changes the band gap of semiconducting bilayers; it makes the band gap to be indirect, and later initiates the semiconductor-to-metal transition. Application of the external electric fields, on the other hand, shows asymmetric variation in the band gap leading to the closure of the gap at about 0.5-1.0 V/Å. Tuning of the band gap and carrier effective mass in such a controlled manner makes the hybrid bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides to be promising candidates for application in electronic devices at nanoscale. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC