Gate Voltage Control of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers Quantum Yield

Abstract: Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (2D-TMD) monolayers, which reveal remarkable semiconductor properties, are the subject of active experimental research.Recently it has been shown experimentally that quantum yield in MoS2 and WSe2 monoatomic layers can reach values close to unity when electrostatic doping makes them intrinsic semiconductors. However, the available theoretical description does not give an understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying in the gate voltage control of quantum yield.This work is an attempt to propose a consistent semi-phenomenological theory of photo-induced charge carriers relaxation in 2D-TMDs, which allows obtaining an analytical dependence of the quantum yield on the voltage applied to the FET gate. We consider a standard experimental situation, when the 2D-TMD monolayer and the metal gate are plates of a flat capacitor, and the capacitor charge is proportional to the gate voltage. The dependences of the TMD monolayers quantum yield on the gate voltage and the carrier generation rate have been calculated for the cases of the prevailing recombination of free electrons and holes (radiative and non-radiative Auger recombination) and recombination of excitons (radiative and Auger recombination). In both cases analytical expressions were derived for the dependence of quantum yield on the gate voltage and photo-induced carriers generation rate at a fixed gate voltage. Quantitative agreement with experiment allows concluding about the relevance of the proposed theoretical model for the description of carriers photo-generation and recombination in 2D-TMD monolayers. Obtained results demonstrate the possibilities of 2D-TMD quantum yield control by the gate voltage and indicate that 2D-TMDs are promising candidates for modern optoelectronics devices.