Escalated Photocurrent with Excitation Energy in Dual-Gated MoTe2

Although van der Waals-layered transition metal dichalcogenides from transient absorption spectroscopy have successfully demonstrated an ideal carrier multiplication (CM) performance with an onset of nearly 2E g, interpretation of the CM effect from the optical approach remains unresolved owing to the complexity of many-body electron–hole pairs. We demonstrate the escalated photocurrent with excitation photon energy by fabricating the dual-gate p–n junction of a MoTe 2 film on a transparent substrate. Electrons and holes were efficiently extracted by eliminating the Schottky barriers in the metal contact and minimizing multiple reflections. The photocurrent was elevated proportionately to the excitation photon energy. The boosted quantum efficiency confirms the multiple electron–hole pair generation of >2E g, consistent with CM results from an optical approach, pushing the solar cell efficiency beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit.