Electronic structure of transition metal dichalcogenides monolayers 1H-MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) from ab-initio theory: new direct band gap semiconductors

We report first principles calculations of the electronic structure of monolayer 1H-MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te), using the pseudopotential and numerical atomic orbital basis sets based methods within the local density approximation. Electronic band structure and density of states calculations found that the states around the Fermi energy are mainly due to metal d states. From partial density of states we find a strong hybridisation between metal d and chalcogen p states below the Fermi energy. All studied compounds in this work have emerged as new direct band gap semiconductors. The electronic band gap is found to decrease as one goes from sulphides to the tellurides of both Mo and W. Reducing the slab thickness systematically from bulk to monolayers causes a blue shift in the band gap energies, resulting in tunability of the electronic band gap. The magnitudes of the blue shift in the band gap energies are found to be 1.14 eV, 1.16 eV, 0.78 eV, 0.64, 0.57 eV and 0.37 eV for MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, WSe2, MoTe2 and WTe2, respectively, as we go from bulk phase (indirect band gap) to monolayer limit (direct band gap). This tunability in the electronic band gap and transitions from indirect to direct band make these materials potential candidates for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices.