Vacancy-driven electronic reconstruction in monolayer : Formation thermodynamics and charge states
Phys. Rev. B 114, 134103 – Published 3 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ykcp-vs74
Abstract
Layered transition metal dichalcogenides are an important platform for two-dimensional materials, where the inevitable intrinsic defects provide new degrees of freedom for tuning their physical properties. Based on first-principles calculations, this work systematically investigates the formation energies, charge states, and electronic structural characteristics of , and composite vacancies in monolayer . The results indicate that while vacancy formation energies are highly sensitive to chemical potentials, the structure consistently exhibits the lowest formation energy. The charge defect calculation reveals the stable charge state intervals of and as a function of the Fermi level, thus describing the evolution of the charge states of intrinsic vacancies at different electronic chemical potentials. Climbing Image Nudged Elastic Band calculations reveal high migration barriers for and , indicating strongly hindered vacancy diffusion at room temperature, while short ab initio Molecular Dynamics simulations confirm the absence of immediate structural collapse within the simulated time window. Optical property calculations indicate that point defects significantly alter the dielectric response of monolayer and generate new low-energy absorption channels associated with in-gap defect states. These findings provide new insights into defect-mediated electronic and optical property modulation in monolayer , offering guidance for its potential device design.