Strain-tuned electronic and valley-related properties in Janus monolayers of SWSiX2 (X = N, P, As)

Abstract

Abstract Exploring novel two-dimensional (2D) valleytronic materials has an essential impact on the design of spintronic and valleytronic devices. Our first principles calculation results reveal that the Janus SWSiX 2 (X = N, P, As) monolayer has excellent dynamical and thermal stability. Owing to strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC), the SWSiX 2 monolayer exhibits a valence band spin splitting of up to 0.49 eV, making it promising 2D semiconductor for valleytronic applications. The opposite Berry curvatures and optical selection rules lead to the coexistence of valley and spin Hall effects in the SWSiX 2 monolayer. Moreover, the optical transition energies can be remarkably modulated by the in-plane strains. Large tensile (compressive) in-plane strains can achieve spin flipping in the SWSiN2 monolayer, and induce both SWSiP2 and SWSiAs2 monolayers transit from semiconductor to metal. Our research provides new 2D semiconductor candidates for designing high-performance valleytronic devices.