Black Arsenic: A Layered Semiconductor with Extreme In-Plane Anisotropy

Yabin Chen; Chaoyu Chen; Robert Kealhofer; Huili Liu; Zhiquan Yuan; Lili Jiang; Joonki Suh; Joonsuk Park; Changhyun Ko; Hwan Sung Choe; José Avila; Mianzeng Zhong; Zhongming Wei; Jingbo Li; Shushen Li; Hongjun Gao; Yunqi Liu; James Analytis; Qinglin Xia; Maria C Asensio; Junqiao Wu

doi:10.1002/adma.201800754

Black Arsenic: A Layered Semiconductor with Extreme In-Plane Anisotropy

Adv Mater. 2018 Jul;30(30):e1800754. doi: 10.1002/adma.201800754. Epub 2018 Jun 11.

Authors

Yabin Chen¹, Chaoyu Chen², Robert Kealhofer³, Huili Liu^{1

4}, Zhiquan Yuan¹, Lili Jiang^{5

6}, Joonki Suh¹, Joonsuk Park⁷, Changhyun Ko¹, Hwan Sung Choe¹, José Avila², Mianzeng Zhong^{8

9}, Zhongming Wei⁸, Jingbo Li⁸, Shushen Li⁸, Hongjun Gao⁵, Yunqi Liu⁶, James Analytis^{3

4}, Qinglin Xia^{1

8

9}, Maria C Asensio², Junqiao Wu^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
² ANTARES Beamline, Synchrotron SOLEIL, Université Paris-Saclay, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint Aubin-BP 48, 91192, Gif sur, Yvette Cedex, France.
³ Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁵ Institute of Physics and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁷ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁹ School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Key Laboratory for Super-microstructure and Ultrafast Process, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.

PMID: 29893020
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201800754

Abstract

2D layered materials have emerged in recent years as a new platform to host novel electronic, optical, or excitonic physics and develop unprecedented nanoelectronic and energy applications. By definition, these materials are strongly anisotropic between the basal plane and cross the plane. The structural and property anisotropies inside their basal plane, however, are much less investigated. Black phosphorus, for example, is a 2D material that has such in-plane anisotropy. Here, a rare chemical form of arsenic, called black-arsenic (b-As), is reported as a cousin of black phosphorus, as an extremely anisotropic layered semiconductor. Systematic characterization of the structural, electronic, thermal, and electrical properties of b-As single crystals is performed, with particular focus on its anisotropies along two in-plane principle axes, armchair (AC) and zigzag (ZZ). The analysis shows that b-As exhibits higher or comparable electronic, thermal, and electric transport anisotropies between the AC and ZZ directions than any other known 2D crystals. Such extreme in-plane anisotropies can potentially implement novel ideas for scientific research and device applications.

Keywords: 2D; anisotropy; black arsenic; layered semiconductors.