Giant photoluminescence enhancement and resonant charge transfer in atomically thin two-dimensional Cr₂Ge₂Te₆/WS₂heterostructures

Hybridization of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic semiconductors with transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) monolayers can significantly engineer the light-matter interactions and provide a promising platform for enhanced excitonic systems with artificially tailored band alignments. Here, we report the fabrication of heterostructures with monolayer WS2 on 2D Cr2Ge2Te6 (CGT), which displayed giant photoluminescence enhancement at specific CGT layer numbers. The highly enhanced quantum yield obtained can be explained by novel photoexcited carrier dynamics, facilitated by alternate relaxation channels, resulting in resonance charge transfer at the heterointerface. 2D CGT revealed a strongly layer-dependent work function (up to ∼750 meV), which greatly modulates the band positioning in the heterostructure. These heterostructures conceived both type I and type II band alignments, which are verified by Kelvin probe force microscopy and PL measurements. In addition to layer modulation, we uncover temperature and power dependence of the resonance charge transfer in the multilayer heterostructure. Our findings provide further insights into the ultrafast charge dynamics occurring at the atomic interfaces. The results may pave the way for novel optoelectronics based on van der Waals heterostructures.