Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Residue-Free Fabrication of van der Waals Heterostructures of Two-Dimensional Materials
Published on: July 18, 2025
Effects of boron and nitrogen doping on the electronic properties of graphene-based heterostructures with
Zhiang Liu1, Ping Huang1, Yi Luo2
1Chengdu Aeronautic Polytechnic University, Chengdu, China.
Abstract:
Based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, heterostructures composed of graphene and two-dimensional semiconducting materials exhibit significant potential for applications in nanoelectronics devices. In this study, we propose an innovative approach to modulate the electronic properties of such heterostructures. We conduct a comprehensive investigation into the structural properties, band structures, and band alignments of ten widely studied two-dimensional semiconducting materials, unveiling opportunities for forming Schottky contacts with graphene. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the work function of graphene can be extensively tuned via boron or nitrogen doping. Our findings reveal that B- or N-doping in graphene substantially modifies the electronic properties of graphene/two-dimensional semiconducting materials heterostructures, enabling transitions between p-type and n-type Schottky contacts and even facilitating a shift from Schottky to Ohmic contacts in some cases. This tunability is critical for the precise design of graphene/two-dimensional semiconducting materials heterostructures with optimized Schottky barrier heights, paving the way for advanced nanoelectronics and catalyst applications.
Related Concept Videos
Semiconductors
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Schottky Barriers
Schottky barriers arise when a metal with a work function (Φm) contacts a semiconductor with a different work function (Φs). Initially, electrons transfer until the Fermi levels of the metal and semiconductor align at equilibrium. For instance, if Φm > Φs, the semiconductor Fermi level is higher than the metal's before contact. The semiconductor's...
Fermi Level Dynamics
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Types of Semiconductors
P-N junction
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
In Schottky junctions, where the semiconductor is n-type, applying a positive voltage to the metal relative to the semiconductor reduces its Fermi...

