Strain engineering is a practical method to tune and improve the physical characteristics and properties of two-dimensional materials, due to their large stretchability. Tensile strain dependence of electronic, phonon, and thermoelectric properties of InSe monolayer are systematically studied. We demonstrate that the lattice thermal conductivity can be effectively modulated by applying tensile strain. Tensile strain can enhance anharmonic phonon scattering, giving rise to the enhanced phonon scattering rate, reduced phonon group velocity and heat capacity, and therefore lattice thermal conductivity decreases from 25.9 to 13.1 W/mK when the strain of 6% is applied. The enhanced figure of merit indicates that tensile strain is an effective way to improve the thermoelectric performance of InSe monolayer.
Keywords: Strain engineering; Thermoelectric; Two-dimensional materials.