Van der Waals heterostructures for high-performance device applications: challenges and opportunities

Discovery of two-dimensional materials with unique electronic, superior optoelectronic or intrinsic magnetic order have triggered worldwide interests among the fields of material science, condensed matter physics and device physics. Vertically stacking of two-dimensional materials with distinct electronic and optical as well as magnetic properties enables to create a large variety of van der Waals heterostructures. The diverse properties of the vertical heterostructures open up unprecedented opportunities for various kinds of device applications, e.g. vertical field effect transistors, ultrasensitive infrared photodetectors, spin-filtering devices and so on, which are inaccessible in the conventional material heterostructures. Here, we review the current status of vertical heterostructures device applications in vertical transistors, infrared photodetectors and spintronic memory/transistors. The relevant challenges for achieving high-performance devices are presented. We also provide outlook on future development of vertical heterostructure devices with integrated electronic and optoelectronic as well as spintronic functinalities.