Normal Strain-Induced Tunneling Behavior Promotion in van der Waals Heterostructures

Van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) realized by vertically stacking of different two-dimensional (2D) materials are a promising candidate for tunneling devices because of their atomically clean and lattice mismatch-free interfaces in which different layers are separated by the vdW gaps. The gaps can provide an ideal electric modulation environment on the vdWH band structures and, on the other hand, can also impede the electron tunneling behavior because of large tunneling widths. Here, through first-principles calculations, we find that the electrically modulated tunneling behavior is immune to the interlayer interaction, keeping a direct band-to-band tunneling manner even the vdWHs have been varied to the indirect semiconductor, which means that the tunneling probability can be promoted through the vdW gap shrinking. Using transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures as examples and normal strains as the gap reducing strategy, a maximum shrinking of 33% is achieved without changing the direct tunneling manner, resulting in a tunneling probability promotion of more than 45 times. Furthermore, the enhanced interlayer interaction by the strains will boost the stability of the vdWHs at the lateral direction, preventing the interlayer displacement effectively. It is expected that our findings provide perspectives in improving the electric behaviors of the vdWH devices. (paper)