van der Waals multilayer heterostructures have drawn increasing attention due to the potential for achieving high-performance photonic and optoelectronic devices. However, the carrier interlayer transportation behavior in multilayer structures, which is essential for determining the device performance, remains unrevealed. Here, we report a general strategy for studying and manipulating the carrier interlayer transportation in van der Waals multilayers by constructing type-I heterostructures, with a desired narrower bandgap monolayer acting as a carrier extraction layer. For heterostructures comprised of multilayer PbI2 and monolayer WS2, we find similar interlayer diffusion coefficients of ∼0.039 and ∼0.032 cm2 s-1 for electrons and holes in the PbI2 multilayer by fitting the time-resolved carrier dynamics based on the diffusion model. Because of the balanced carrier interlayer diffusion and the injection process at the heterointerface, the photoluminescence emission of the bottom WS2 monolayer is greatly enhanced by up to 106-fold at an optimized PbI2 thickness of the heterostructure. Our results provide valuable information on carrier interlayer transportation in van der Waals multilayer structures and pave the way for utilizing carrier behaviors to improve device performances.
Keywords: charge transfer; interlayer diffusion; photoluminescence enhancement; type-I heterostructures; van der Waals multilayers.