A 2D semiconductor-self-assembled monolayer photoswitchable diode

The ability to modulate the (opto)-electronic response by means of external stimuli is one of the key requirements in the field of micro- and nanoelectronics. In this regard, optical switching of devices stands as a promising technological paradigm, due to the possibility of ultrafast photoswitching and post-binary logic. Photochromic compounds offer a straightforward way to realize photoswitchable devices. It is worth mentioning that the observed rectifier mechanism follows the opposite trends for both Schottky rectifiers and Aviram?Ratner rectifiers. For the former case, under positive sample bias, the MS barrier and thus depletion layer should increase. Complete suppression of the rectification and the net enhanced current density by close to 1.5 orders of magnitude in forward bias is observed. These observations and comparisons indicate that the transport through the heterostructures can be explained by a combination of tunneling through an MS barrier and tunneling through the trans- mSAM layer.