Computational Search for Two-Dimensional MX2 Semiconductors with Possible High Electron Mobility at Room Temperature

Neither of the two typical two-dimensional materials, graphene and single layer MoS 2 , are good enough for developing semiconductor logical devices. We calculated the electron mobility of 14 two-dimensional semiconductors with composition of MX 2 , where M (=Mo, W, Sn, Hf, Zr and Pt) are transition metals, and Xs are S, Se and Te. We approximated the electron phonon scattering matrix by deformation potentials, within which long wave longitudinal acoustical and optical phonon scatterings were included. Piezoelectric scattering in the compounds without inversion symmetry is also taken into account. We found that out of the 14 compounds, WS 2 , PtS 2 and PtSe 2 are promising for logical devices regarding the possible high electron mobility and finite band gap. Especially, the phonon limited electron mobility in PtSe 2 reaches about 4000 cm 2 ·V - 1 ·s - 1 at room temperature, which is the highest among the compounds with an indirect bandgap of about 1.25 eV under the local density approximation. Our results can be the first guide for experiments to synthesize better two-dimensional materials for future semiconductor devices.