van der Waals heterostructures of 2D materials with on-demand band-structure – 2D-ON-DEMAND

2D materials and in particular atomic layers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) can be combined with each other to form van der Waals heterostructures allowing unprecedented flexibility for on-demand material engineering. Such flexibility at the material design level is central to address future applications in electronics, optoelectronics and energy conversion.
In this context, the 2D-ON-DEMAND project targets the rational design, the elaboration and the comprehensive characterization of novel heterostructures based principally on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides for clearly identified (opto)electronic and energy-conversion applications. Specifically, our objectives are: (1) to develop state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), vapor phase transport (VPT/CVD) and ion implantation methods to synthesize 2D materials (MoSe2, MoTe2, WSe2, SnS2…) and combine them in vertical and lateral heterostructures; (2) to investigate/characterize experimentally the fundamental electronic, optical and/or catalytic properties of both the 2D building blocks and their assemblies using a palette of advanced tools (including state of the art atomic resolution TEM, synchrotron-based spectroscopy, optical and electrical techniques); (3) to develop theoretical approaches to support the selection of appropriate heterostructures and the prediction/calculation of their optical, electronic and transport properties; (4) to build and evaluate proofs of concepts of saturable absorbers for mode-locked lasers, near-infrared RF-photodetectors operating at 1.55 µm, tunnel-FETs with ultra-steep subthreshold slopes (below the 60 mV/decade limit of conventional MOSFETs) and photocatalytic water-splitting devices for hydrogen evolution.
A key aspect of the project concerns the combination of different synthesis techniques (MBE, CVD, ion implantation) and assembly schemes (lateral and vertical heterojunctions), which lifts the single-technique limits in terms of accessible heterostructures diversity and allows producing new materials with specifically selected electronic and optical properties. We will focus on type-III and narrow-gap type-II heterojunctions of particular relevance from an application perspective.
2D-ON-DEMAND is a 48 months project, bringing together 5 teams (from 4 partners): three teams from academic laboratories (two from C2N, one from LPICM), one from an Institutional laboratory (CEA-LICSEN) and one from an Industrial laboratory (Thales Research & Technology). The project will be coordinated by Vincent Derycke (CEA-LICSEN). The total requested funding for the 5 teams is 737 k€.
Thanks to its complementarity in terms of synthesis methods, its demonstrated experimental know-how, its access to the required high-standard equipment, its recognized expertise in theory and simulation and its ability to bridge the material-to-device gap, the consortium of 2D-ON-DEMAND has the ability to make decisive contributions to the field in several ways, both at the fundamental and applied levels.
2D-ON-DEMAND being a PRCE, we will be very ambitious regarding transfer activities and intellectual property management. All results will be evaluated by the consortium to assess their potential short-term and long-term economic value with respect to the roadmap of the industrial partner and the transfer strategy of the other partners. An equally important objective is to produce fundamental scientific knowledge at the highest standard of international research. In this respect, the field of 2D material heterostructures is an exceptionally rich area at the crossroad of fundamental physics, chemistry and device engineering. Consequently, we expect several publications in high impact journals during the course of the project.