Conduction Modulation of Solution-Processed 2D Materials

Solution-processed 2D materials hold promise for their scalable applications. However, the random, fragmented nature of the solution-processed nanoflakes and the poor percolative conduction through their discrete networks limit the performance of the enabled devices. To overcome the problem, conduction modulation of the solution-processed 2D materials is reported via Stark effect. Using liquid-phase exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) as an example, nonlinear conduction switching with a ratio of >10⁵ is demonstrated by the local fields from the interfacial ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE). Through density-functional theory calculations and in situ Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopic analysis, the modulation is understood to arise from a charge redistribution in the solution-processed MoS₂. Beyond MoS₂, the modulation may be shown effective for the other solution-processed 2D materials and low-dimensional materials. The modulation can open their electronic device applications, for instance, thin-film nonlinear electronics and non-volatile memories.