Stacking and electric field effects on the band alignment and electronic properties of the GeC/GaSe heterostructure

Combining different two-dimensional materials into layered van der Waals heterostructures are recently considered as an effective route to enhance the electronic properties of the constituent materials and to extend the application range in next-generation nanodevices. Here, the GeC/GaSe heterostructure and its electronic properties controlled by electric field have been constructed and systematically investigated using first-principles calculations. Five different stacking patterns of the GeC/GaSe heterostructure are constructed to consider the stacking effects on the electronic properties. We find that the GeC/GaSe heterostructure is mainly characterized by the weak van der Waals forces, dominating between GeC and GaSe layers, preserving their intrinsic properties in GeC/GaSe heterostructure. The GeC/GaSe heterostructure exhibits the type-II band alignment, where the electron–hole pairs are separated, making it suitable for fabricating next-generation optoelectronic nanodevices. Moreover, the stacking configurations have little affect the structural and electronic properties of the GeC/GaSe heterostructures. The pattern-I stacking configuration has the lowest binding energy and shortest interlayer distance as compared with other stacking patterns of the GeC/GaSe heterostructure. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the electric field is considered as an effective route to modulate the electronic properties of GeC/GaSe heterostructure from semiconductor to metal. This finding makes the GeC/GaSe heterostructure promising material for optoelectronic nanodevices. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.