Room-temperature low-threshold avalanche effect in stepwise van-der-Waals homojunction photodiodes

Avalanche or carrier-multiplication effect, based on impact ionization processes in semiconductors, has a great potential for enhancing the performance of photodetector and solar cells. However, in practical applications, it suffers from high threshold energy, reducing the advantages of carrier multiplication. Here, we report on a low-threshold avalanche effect in a stepwise WSe₂ structure, in which the combination of weak electron-phonon scattering and high electric fields leads to a low-loss carrier acceleration and multiplication. Owing to this effect, the room-temperature threshold energy approaches the fundamental limit, E_thre ≈ E_g, where E_g is the bandgap of the semiconductor. Our findings offer an alternative perspective on the design and fabrication of future avalanche and hot-carrier photovoltaic devices.