Layered two-dimensional (2D) materials display great potential for a range of applications, particularly in electronics. We report the large-scale synthesis of thin films of platinum diselenide (PtSe2), a thus far scarcely investigated transition metal dichalcogenide. Importantly, the synthesis by thermally assisted conversion is performed at 400 °C, representing a breakthrough for the direct integration of this material with silicon (Si) technology. Besides the thorough characterization of this 2D material, we demonstrate its promise for applications in high-performance gas sensing with extremely short response and recovery times observed due to the 2D nature of the films. Furthermore, we realized vertically stacked heterostructures of PtSe2 on Si which act as both photodiodes and photovoltaic cells. Thus, this study establishes PtSe2 as a potential candidate for next-generation sensors and (opto-)electronic devices, using fabrication protocols compatible with established Si technologies.
Keywords: low-temperature synthesis; optoelectronic devices; platinum diselenide; sensors; transition metal dichalcogenides; two-dimensional materials.