Realization of N-Type Semiconducting of Phosphorene through Surface Metal Doping and Work Function Study

Phosphorene becomes an important member of the layered nanomaterials since its discovery for the fabrication of nanodevices. In the experiments, pristine phosphorene shows p-type semiconducting with no exception. To reach its full capability, n-type semiconducting is a necessity. Here, we report the electronic structure engineering of phosphorene by surface metal atom doping. Five metal elements, Cu, Ag, Au, Li, and Na, have been considered which could form stable adsorption on phosphorene. These elements show patterns in their electron configuration with one valence electron in their outermost s-orbital. Among three group 11 elements, Cu can induce n-type degenerate semiconducting, while Ag and Au can only introduce localized impurity states. The distinct ability of Cu, compared to Ag and Au, is mainly attributed to the electronegativity. Cu has smaller electronegativity and thus denotes its electron to phosphorene, upshifting the Fermi level towards conduction band, resulting in n-type semiconducting. Ag and Au have larger electronegativity and hardly transfer electrons to phosphorene. Parallel studies of Li and Na doping support these findings. In addition, Cu doping effectively regulates the work function of phosphorene, which gradually decreases upon increasing Cu concentration. It is also interesting that Au can hardly change the work function of phosphorene.