Manifestation of unexpected semiconducting properties in few-layer orthorhombic arsenene

In this letter, we demonstrate that few-layer orthorhombic arsenene is an ideal semiconductor. Owing to the layer stacking, multilayer arsenenes always behave as intrinsic direct bandgap semiconductors with gap values of approximately 1 eV. In addition, these bandgaps can be further tuned in its nanoribbons. Based on the so-called acoustic phonon limited approach, the carrier mobilities are predicted to approach as high as several thousand square centimeters per volt–second and to simultaneously exhibit high directional anisotropy. All these characteristics make few-layer arsenene promising for device applications in the semiconducting industry.