Bandgap engineering of rippled MoS₂ monolayer under external electric field

In this letter we propose a universal strategy combining external electric field with the ripple of membrane to tune the bandgap of semiconducting atomic monolayer. By first-principles calculations we show that the bandgap of rippled MoS₂ monolayer can be tuned in a large range by vertical external electric field, which is expected to have little effect on MoS₂ monolayer. This phenomenon can be explained from charge redistribution under external electric field by a simple model. This may open an avenue of optimizing monolayer MoS₂ for electronic and optoelectronic applications by surface patterning. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.