The effects of electric field and strain on the BP/GeTe van der Waals heterojunction

Abstract Recently, van der Waals heterojunctions (vdWHs) constructed from two two-dimensional materials have attracted considerable attention. In particular, vdWHs based on black phosphorus (BP) have shown excellent photoelectric properties. In this work, we construct a BP/GeTe vdWH and investigate its electronic and optical properties. We find that the BP/GeTe vdWH has a type-II band alignment. Its optical absorption exhibits a red shift compared to the freestanding BP and GeTe monolayers. The electric field and strain effects on the BP/GeTe vdWH are also investigated. The band offsets can be modulated by the electric field and the strain. The BP/GeTe vdWH will convert from type-II to type-I when applying an electric field and to type-III under strain, which will expand the application of BP/GeTe vdWHs in transistor devices. Furthermore, the strain can significantly enhance the optical absorption and induce the red shift of the absorption edge, which indicates the broad applications of the BP/GeTe vdWH in photodetector devices.