Tuning the electronic properties of van der Waals heterostructures composed of black phosphorus and graphitic SiC.

This study presents a new van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure composed of monolayer black phosphorus (BP) and monolayer graphitic SiC (g-SiC). Using first-principles calculations, the structural and electronic properties of the BP/SiC heterostructure were investigated. It was found that by stacking BP with SiC, weak type-I band alignment can be achieved with a band gap of 0.705 eV, where the direct band gap as well as linear dichroism features were well preserved. The electrostatic potential drop in the heterojunction was calculated to be 4.044 eV. By applying perpendicular electric field, the band alignment can be altered to either type-I or type-II, and the band gap can be effectively controlled by field intensity, hence making the heterostructure suitable for various applications.