Misfit Layer Compounds as Ultratunable Field Effect Transistors: From Charge Transfer Control to Emergent Superconductivity
Ludovica Zullo, Giovanni Marini, Tristan Cren, Matteo Calandra
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Misfit layer compounds are heterostructures composed of rocksalt units stacked with few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides. They host Ising superconductivity, charge density waves, and good thermoelectricity. The design of misfits’ emergent properties is, however, hindered by the lack of a global understanding of the electronic transfer among the constituents. Here, by performing first-principles calculations, we unveil the mechanism controlling the charge transfer and demonstrate that rocksalt units are always donor and dichalcogenides acceptors. We show that misfits behave as a periodic arrangement of ultratunable field effect transistors where a charging as large as ≈6 × 10 14 e – cm –2 can be reached and controlled efficiently by the La–Pb alloying in the rocksalt. Finally, we identify a strategy to design emergent superconductivity and demonstrate its applicability in (LaSe) 1.27 (SnSe 2 ) 2 . Our work paves the way to the design synthesis of misfit compounds with tailored physical properties.