Semiconductor channel mediated photodoping in h-BN encapsulated monolayer MoSe2 phototransistors

Abstract

In optically excited two-dimensional phototransistors, charge transport is often affected by photodoping effects. Recently, it was shown that such effects are especially strong and persistent for graphene/h-BN heterostructures, and that they can be used to controllably tune the charge neutrality point of graphene. In this work we investigate how this technique can be extended to h BN encapsulated monolayer MoSe_2 phototransistors at room temperature. By exposing the sample to 785 nm laser excitation we can controllably increase the charge carrier density of the MoSe_2 channel by {\Delta}n {\approx} 4.45 {\times} 10^{12} cm^{-2}, equivalent to applying a back gate voltage of 60 V. We also evaluate the efficiency of photodoping at different illumination wavelengths, finding that it is strongly correlated with the light absorption by the MoSe_2 layer, and maximizes for excitation on-resonance with the A exciton absorption. This indicates that the photodoping process involves optical absorption by the MoSe_2 channel, in contrast with the mechanism earlier described for graphene/h-BN heterostroctures.