Ternary layered compound materials (bismuth oxyhalides and metal phosphorus trichalcogenides) stand out in electronic and optoelectronic fields due to their interesting physical properties. However, few studies focus on the preparation of high-quality two-dimensional (2D) BiOBr crystals with a typical layered structure, let alone their optoelectronic applications. Here, for the first time, high-quality 2D BiOBr crystals with ultrathin thicknesses (less than 10 nm) and large domain sizes (∼100 µm) were efficiently prepared via a modified space-confined chemical vapor deposition (SCCVD) method. It is demonstrated that a moderate amount of H2O molecules in the SCCVD system greatly promote the formation of high-quality 2D BiOBr crystals because of the strong polarity of H2O molecules. In addition, a linear relationship between the thickness of BiOBr nanosheets and Raman shift of $${\rm{A}}_{1{\rm{g}}}^{\left( 1 \right)}$$ mode was found. Corresponding theoretical calculations were carried out to verify the experimental data. Furthermore, the BiOBr-based photodetector was fabricated, exhibiting excellent performances with a responsivity of 12.4 A W−1 and a detectivity of 1.6×1013 Jones at 365 nm. This study paves the way for controllable preparation of high quality 2D BiOBr crystals and implies intriguing opportunities of them in op toelectronic applications.

Compared to the most studied 2D elements and binary compounds, ternary layered compounds with more adjustable physical and chemical properties have exhibited potential applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. Here, 2D ternary layered BiOI crystals are synthesized first with a domain size up to 100 mu m via space-confined chemical vapor deposition. The photodetectors based on the as-grown BiOI nanosheets demonstrate high sensitivity to 473 nm light. The I-on/I-off ratio and detectivity of BiOI photodetectors can reach up to 1 x 10(5) and 8.2 x 10(11) Jones at 473 nm, respectively. Particularly, the contact and dark current of the photodetectors can be controlled by 254 nm ultraviolet light irradiation due to the introduction of oxygen vacancies. The facile synthesis of large-area atomically thin BiOI and its controllable performance by ultraviolet light irradiation suggest that 2D BiOI crystal is a promising material for fundamental investigations and optoelectronic applications.

Effects of Mo-vacancy concentration on the structural, electronic and optical properties of monolayer MoS2 have been investigated using the first-principles calculations. Results show that Mo-vacancy is prone to form in monolayer MoS2 under S-rich condition. S atoms around Mo-vacancy exhibit an outward relaxation, whereas Mo atoms around Mo-vacancy show an inward relaxation. At low Mo-vacancy concentration, some localized impurity states are induced in the band gap of monolayer MoS2, coupled with a band gap increment. As the Mo-vacancy concentration increases, the impurity states become delocalized and mix with the upper valence bands, resulting in the band gap decrease. The covalent character of Mo-S bonding is enhanced upon the introduction of Mo-vacancy, and the enhancement is weakened as the Mo-vacancy concentration increases. Optical properties calculations show that the static dielectric constant increases with the increasing Mo-vacancy concentration. The imaginary part of complex dielectric function exhibits a little blue shift for monolayer MoS2 with low Mo-vacancy concentration, whereas the imaginary part of complex dielectric function shows distinct red shift for monolayer MoS2 with high Mo-vacancy concentration.