Perovskite oxides have provided a wide variety of exotic functionalities based on their unique physical and chemical properties. By combining different perovskite oxides, interesting physical phenomena have been observed at the interfaces of perovskite heterostructures. The most interesting among these phenomena is the formation of two dimensional electron gas at the interface of two perovskite materials SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 which led to a number of fascinating physical properties such as metal-insulator transition, super-conductivity, large negative magnetoresistance and so on. This has raised the interest in exploiting the interface of various hybrids structures built on the perovskite oxide backbone. On the other hand, the two dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials such as graphene, MoS2, boron nitride etc. represent a new paradigm in the 2D electron-ics. The functionalities of these individual materials have been combined to obtain new enriched functionalities by stacking different materials together forming van der Waals heterostructures. In this work, we present a detailed study of the interface in hybrid structures made of vander Waals materials (graphene and MoS2) and their hybrids with a perovskite material namely, SrTiO3 which is known as the building block of complex oxide heterostructures. In graphene-MoS2 vertical heterostructure, we have carried out a detailed set of investigations on the modulation of the Schottky barrier at the graphene-MoS2 interface with varying external electric field. By using different stacking sequences and device structures, we obtained high mobility at large current on-off ratio at room temperature along with a tunable Schottky barrier which can be varied as high as ∼ 0.4 eV by applying electric field. We also explored the interface of graphene and SrTiO3 as well as MoS2 and SrTiO3 by electrical transport and low frequency 1/f noise measurements. We observed a hysteretic feature in the transfer characteristics of dual gated graphene and MoS2 field effect transistors on SrTiO3. The dual gated geometry enabled us to measure the effective capacitance of SrTiO3 interface which showed an enhancement indicating the possible existence of negative capacitance developed by the surface dipoles at the interface of SrTiO3 and the graphene or MoS2 channel. Our 1/f noise study and the analysis of higher order statistics of noise also support the possibility of electric field-driven reorient able surface dipoles at the interface.

Earth-abundant MoS2 is widely reported as a promising HER electrocatalyst in acidic solutions, but it exhibits extremely poor HER activities in alkaline media due to the slow water dissociation process. Here we present a combined theoretical and experimental approach to improve the sluggish HER kinetics of MoS2 electrocatalysts through engineering the water dissociation sites by doping Ni atoms into MoS2 nanosheets. The Ni sites thus introduced can effectively reduce the kinetic energy barrier of the initial water-dissociation step and facilitate the desorption of the −OH that are formed. As a result, the developed Ni-doped MoS2 nanosheets (Ni-MoS2) show an extremely low HER overpotential of ∼98 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH aqueous solution, which is superior to those (>220 mV at 10 mA cm−2) of reported MoS2 electrocatalysts.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’évaluation du potentiel d'un semi-conducteur 2D, le disulfure de molybdène (MoS2) monocouche, en tant que matériau de canal de type N pour l’électronique flexible. Ce semi-conducteur d'épaisseur nanométrique est stable chimiquement, robuste mécaniquement et possède une bande interdite directe de 1,9 eV. Le travail réalisé couvre en premier lieu la synthèse de monocouches de MoS2 par dépôt chimique en phase vapeur (CVD) et leur caractérisation. Les monocouches synthétisées ont été intégrées avec succès en tant que matériau de canal dans des transistors de type N stables à l'air. L'étude a mis en évidence l'impact sur les performances de l'environnement et des résistances aux interfaces métal/MoS2. Des mobilités électroniques de 20 cm²/(V.s) associées à des rapports ION/IOFF > 106 ont été obtenus. Ces performances ont permis l’intégration du MoS2 monocouche dans des transistors flexibles. Ce travail a été combiné à d’importants efforts sur l’intégration de films minces organiques électrogreffés en tant que diélectrique de grille, y compris sur substrat flexible. Dans un domaine encore jeune mais en rapide évolution, ces travaux montrent la viabilité de l’option MoS2 monocouche pour l’électronique flexible, notamment en combinaison avec les diélectriques minces organiques. / This PhD thesis is dedicated to the assessment of the potential of monolayers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as a N-type channel material for flexible electronics. This 2D semiconductor of atomic-scale thickness is chemically stable, mechanically robust and has a direct bandgap of 1.9 eV. This work includes the synthesis of MoS2 monolayers by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and the characterization of this material. The MoS2 monolayers were integrated in air-stable N-type transistors. The study highlighted the impact on the device performances of both the environment and the resistances at the MoS2/metal interfaces. Electronic mobilities of 20 cm²/(V.s) in combination with ION/IOFF ratios > 106 were achieved. These performances allowed integrating MoS2 monolayers in flexible transistors. This work was combined with the study of electrografted organic ultrathin films used as gate dielectrics and their integration in MoS2 transistors. This thesis shows that MoS2 monolayers are a viable option for flexible electronics operating at low bias, in particular when they are associated with ultrathin organic dielectrics.

L'influence de l'effet de support sur la formation des phases de sulfure, c'est-à-dire la morphologie, la dispersion des sites, la structure et l'activité catalytique pour les catalyseurs d'hydrotraitement a été étudiée. L'étude a débuté par des catalyseurs au Mo et a été suivie par des catalyseurs CoMo supportés sur de la silice d'alumine et de l'oxyde de titane. L'effet de support semble être le facteur clé pour contrôler la morphologie des feuilles de MoS2. La morphologie a été étudiée en utilisant une technique puissante appelée IR / CO, c'est-à-dire une adsorption de CO suivie par une spectroscopie FTIR. Cette méthode permet de distinguer deux types de bord exposés sur les feuilles MoS2 dites M- et S-edge et permet ensuite l'étude de la morphologie par le rapport S / M-edge. Ainsi, pour une interaction faible, la morphologie hexagonale déformée du support MoS2 a été montrée alors que pour une interaction forte, la morphologie du triangle a été observée. Ces différentes morphologies ont été utilisées pour étudier la localisation du Co par la même méthode, IR / CO. Cette méthode permet également la distinction entre les sites non promus et promus ainsi que Co situé sur les bords M- et S-edge. Par conséquent, la comparaison entre le rapport S / M-edge et le degré de promotion (rapport des sites promus / non promus) a montré que Co est présent sur les deux bords M- et S-edge pour les trois catalyseurs supportés par CoMo. De plus, une étude détaillée a montré que Co décore préférentiellement les sites de type S-edge. Par conséquent, les structures du site CoMoS pour chaque catalyseur ont été étudiées par la méthode IRIS 2D. Cette nouvelle méthode développée au LCS permet la déconvolution de bandes IR / CO qui étaient auparavant une limitation pour la caractérisation des sites CoMoS. Cette avancée dans la caractérisation CoMo a conduit à l'étude détaillée de la structure CoMoS. Après l'attribution des trois bandes qui sont observées dans la gamme de spectres IR / CO promue, il est apparu que les sites S-edge étaient partiellement promus par Co, tandis que les sites M-edge étaient partiellement et totalement promus par Co. Ces sites ont un effet sur la réactivité HDS (hydrodésulfuration). De plus, une activité intrinsèque plus élevée a été trouvée pour le bord M-edge partiellement promus par Co, suivi par les sites totalement promus et finalement promus partiellement par le bord S-edge. / The influence of the support effect on the sulfide phases formation, i.e. morphology, sites dispersión, structure and catalytic activity for hydrotreating catalysts was studied. The study started by Mo catalysts and followed by CoMo catalysts supported on alumina silica and titania. The support effect appeared to be the key factor to control the morphology of MoS2 slabs. The morphology was studied using a powerful technique so-called IR/CO, i.e. CO adsorption followed by FTIR spectroscopy. This method allows the distinction of two types of edge exposed on the MoS2 slabs so-called M- and S-edge and then permits the study of the morphology by the S-/M-edge ratio. Thus, for a weak interaction MoS2-support deformed hexagon morphology was detected whereas for a strong interaction triangle morphology was observed. These different morphologies were used to study the Co localization by the same method, IR/CO. This method also allows the distinction between non- and promoted sites as well as Co located on M- and S-edges. Hence, the comparison between S-/M-edge ratio and promotion degree (promoted/non-promoted sites ratio) showed that Co is present on both M- and S-edges for the three CoMo supported catalysts. Additionally, a detailed study showed that Co preferentially decorates S-edge sites. Consequently, the CoMoS site structures for each catalyst has been studied by 2D IRIS method. This novel method developped in LCS allows the resolution of overlapping IR/CO bands which were previously a limitation for CoMoS sites characterization. This advance in the CoMo characterization lead to the study of detailed CoMoS structure. After the assignment of three bands which are observed in the promoted range of IR/CO spectra, it appeared that S-edge sites were partially promoted by Co, whereas M-edge sites could be partially and totally promoted by Co. The different proportion of those sites have an effect on HDS (hydrodesulfuration) reactivity. Thus, higher intrinsic activity was found for M-edge partially promoted by Co followed by totally promoted and finally the S-edge partially promoted sites.

Climate change is one of the biggest global threats of the 21st century. Fossil fuels constitute by far the most important energy source for transportation and the different governments are starting to take action to promote the use of cleaner fuels. Biomass-derived fuels are a promising alternative for diversifying fuel sources, reducing fossil fuel dependency and abating greenhouse gas emissions. The research interest has quickly shifted from first-generation biofuels, obtained from food commodities, to second-generation biofuels, produced from non-food resources. The subject of this PhD thesis is the production of second-generation biofuels via thermochemical conversion: biomass is first gasified to synthesis gas, a mixture of mainly H2 and CO; synthesis gas can then be catalytically converted to different fuels. This work summarizes six publications, which are focused on the synthesis gas conversion step. Two processes are principally examined in this summary. The first part of the PhD thesis is devoted to the synthesis of ethanol and higher alcohols, which can be used as fuel or fuel additives. The microemulsion technique is applied in the synthesis of molybdenum-based catalysts, achieving a yield enhancement. Methanol cofeeding is also studied as a way of boosting the production of longer alcohols, but a negative effect is obtained: the main outcome of methanol addition is an increase in methane production. The second part of the PhD thesis addresses wax hydroconversion, an essential upgrading step in the production of middle-distillate fuels via Fischer-Tropsch. Bifunctional catalysts consisting of noble metals supported on silica-alumina are considered. The deactivation of a platinum-based catalyst is investigated, sintering and coking being the main causes of decay. A comparison of platinum and palladium as catalyst metal function is also carried out, obtaining a fairly different catalytic performance of the materials in terms of conversion and selectivity, very likely due to dissimilar hydrogenation power of the metals. Finally, a kinetic model based on the Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson formalism is proposed to describe the hydroconversion reactions, attaining a good fitting of the experimental data. / Klimatförändringarna är ett av de största globala hoten under det tjugoförsta århundradet. Fossila bränslen utgör den helt dominerande energikällan för transporter och många länder börjar stödja användning av renare bränslen. Bränslen baserade på biomassa är ett lovande alternativ för att diversifiera råvarorna, reducera beroendet av fossila råvaror och undvika växthusgaser. Forskningsintresset har snabbt skiftat från första generationens biobränslen som erhölls från mat-råvaror till andra generationens biobränslen producerade från icke ätbara-råvaror. Ämnet för denna doktorsavhandling är produktion av andra generationens biobränslen via termokemisk omvandling. Biomassa förgasas först till syntesgas, en blandning av i huvudsak vätgas och kolmoxid; syntesgasen kan sedan katalytiskt omvandlas till olika bränslen. Detta arbete sammanfattar sex publikationer som fokuserar på steget för syntesgasomvandling. Två processer är i huvudsak undersökta i denna sammanfattning. Den första delen av doktorsavhandlingen ägnas åt syntes av etanol och högre alkoholer som kan användas som bränsle eller bränsletillsatser. Mikroemulsionstekniken har använts vid framställningen av molybden-baserade katalysatorer, vilket gav en höjning av utbytet. Tillsatsen av metanol har också studerats som ett sätt att försöka få en högre koncentration av högre alkoholer, men en negativ effekt erhölls: huvudeffekten av metanoltillsatsen är en ökad metanproduktion. Den andra delen av doktorsavhandlingen handlar om vätebehandling av vaxer som ett viktigt upparbetningssteg vid framställning av mellandestillat från Fischer-Tropsch processen. Bifunktionella katalysatorer som består av ädelmetaller deponerade på silica-alumina valdes. Deaktiveringen av en platinabaserad katalysator undersöktes. Sintring och koksning var huvudorsakerna till deaktiveringen. En jämförelse mellan platina och palladium som funktionella metaller genomfördes också med resultatet att det var en ganska stor skillnad mellan materialens katalytiska egenskaper vilket gav olika omsättning och selektivitet, mycket sannolikt beroende på olika reaktionsmönster hos metallerna vid vätebehandling. Slutligen föreslås en kinetisk modell baserad på en Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson modell för att beskriva reaktionerna vid vätebehandling. Denna modell ger en god anpassning till experimentella data. / El cambio climático es una de las mayores amenazas del siglo XXI. Los combustibles fósiles constituyen actualmente la fuente de energía más importante para el transporte, por lo que los diferentes gobiernos están empezando a tomar medidas para promover el uso de combustibles más limpios. Los combustibles derivados de biomasa son una alternativa prometedora para diversificar las fuentes de energía, reducir la dependencia de los combustibles fósiles y disminuir las emisiones de efecto invernadero. Los esfuerzos de los investigadores se han dirigido en los últimos años a los biocombustibles de segunda generación, producidos a partir de recursos no alimenticios. El tema de esta tesis de doctorado es la producción de biocombustibles de segunda generación mediante conversión termoquímica: en primer lugar, la biomasa se gasifica y convierte en gas de síntesis, una mezcla formada mayoritariamente por hidrógeno y monóxido de carbono; a continuación, el gas de síntesis puede transformarse en diversos biocombustibles. Este trabajo resume seis publicaciones, centradas en la etapa de conversión del gas de síntesis. Dos procesos se estudian con mayor detalle. En la primera parte de la tesis se investiga la producción de etanol y alcoholes largos, que pueden ser usados como combustible o como aditivos para combustible. La técnica de microemulsión se aplica en la síntesis de catalizadores basados en molibdeno, consiguiendo un incremento del rendimiento. Además, se introduce metanol en el sistema de reacción para intentar aumentar la producción de alcoholes más largos, pero los efectos obtenidos son negativos: la principal consecuencia es el incremento de la producción de metano. La segunda parte de la tesis estudia la hidroconversión de cera, una etapa esencial en la producción de destilados medios mediante Fischer-Tropsch. Los catalizadores estudiados son bifuncionales y consisten en metales nobles soportados en sílice-alúmina. La desactivación de un catalizador de platino se investiga, siendo la sinterización y la coquización las principales causas del problema. El uso de platino y paladio como componente metálico se compara, obteniendo resultados catalíticos bastante diferentes, tanto en conversión como en selectividad, probablemente debido a su diferente capacidad de hidrogenación. Finalmente, se propone un modelo cinético, basado en el formalismo de Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson, que consigue un ajuste satisfactorio de los datos experimentales. / <p>QC 20160308</p>

One dimensional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and two-dimensional layered materials like graphene, MoS2, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), etc. with different electrical and mechanical properties are great candidates for many applications in the future. In this study the synthesis and growth of carbon nanotubes on both conducting graphene and graphite substrates as well as insulating hBN substrate with precise crystallographic orientation is achieved. We show that the nanotubes have a clear preference to align to specific crystal directions of the underlying graphene or hBN substrate. On thicker flakes of graphite, the edges of these 2D materials can control the orientation of these carbon nanotubes. This integrated aligned growth of materials with similar lattices provides a promising route to achieving intricate nanoscale electrical circuits. Furthermore, short channel nanoscale devices consisting of the heterostructure of 1D and 2D materials are fabricated. In these nanoscale devices the nanogap is created due to etching of few layer graphene flake through hydrogenation and the channel is either carbon nanotubes or 2D materials like graphene and MoS2. Finally the transport properties of these nanoscale devices is studied.

As far as we know, we only have one planet to live on, with a delicate atmospheric system providing us safety and life. Global CO2 emissions continue to plague the environment of Earth, primarily due to the processing of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrialization. There are several avenues of pursuing CO2 reutilization, each having their own benefits and limitations. Direct and indirect thermochemical approaches of CO2 conversion boast of efficient CO2 conversion rates but have limitations associated with the use of renewable hydrogen and high temperatures of operation. The work in this dissertation investigates low temperature photocatalytic CO2 conversion, a simple principle, which provides opportunity for fuel production while harvesting solar energy. Large scale implementation of this process has been plagued by limitations such as fast electron/hole recombination rates, poor quantum efficiency, product selectivity, catalyst stability, and the band gap energy (Eg) being too large to harvest solar light. Our long term goals and applications look to utilize sustainable fuel generation in-situ on Mars for human exploration. We must use available Mars resources to generate fuel to save launch and resource costs from Earth, utilizing the Sun, Mars atmospheric CO2 (95%), and H2O that can be harvested from subsurface ice. Visible light activated catalysts are needed for applications of CO2 conversion on Earth and Mars due to the intensity and abundance of visible light available in the solar spectrums. The dissertation presents the development of photocatalysts for CO2 reduction in the presence of H2O under visible light irradiation. Detailed chemical analysis and characterization were performed on the photocatalysts for improved understanding of material design, including optical and elemental properties, charge transport, stability, catalytic function and scalability. Induced defects and impurities were implemented to understand Eg tunability. Introducing defects through impurities reduced the electron confinement effects in some cases, increasing the photocatalytic activity. Three material regimes were synthesized, tuned, and tested for catalytic function. The first was a series of (ZnO)1-x(AlN)x, materials that had not been synthesized previously, nor ever demonstrated in CO2 and H2O under solar irradiation. The Zn:Al materials were derived from layered double hydroxides. The second material set was (ZnO)1-x(GaN)x, also derived from layered double hydroxides. To the best of our knowledge, these Zn:Ga materials were demonstrated for the first time in CO2 reduction to CO under visible light without the use of any noble metal co-catalysts or dopants. The third set of materials were MoS2 nanoflowers synthesized via chemical vapor deposition that, to our pleasant surprise, produced thinly stacked sheets in the form of nanoflowers that contained large edge-site exposure, which was vastly different from the morphology of commercially purchased MoS2. The preliminary results from this work have demonstrated that tunable band gap energy is achievable. The (ZnO)1-x(AlN)x Eg ranged from 2.84 to 3.25 eV. The Zn:Al solid solution materials were tuned by increasing nitridation time, and varying the cationic ratio. Increasing the cationic ratio in this study more than tripled CO production under solar light irradiation compared to lower cationic ratios. The (ZnO)1-x(GaN)x, materials had a Eg range from 2.33 eV to 2.59 eV. The Eg was also easily tunable from varying nitriding time and cationic ratio. The highest CO production rate was the Zn:Ga cationic ratio of 3:1 at 20 min of nitriding time at 100 °C, which produced 1.06 µmol-g-1-h-1. This production was higher than both of our controlled TiO2 experiments, and other reported pure TiO2 solar photoreaction experiments. The results indicate a delicate balance of nitridation and Zn:M3+ ratio should be selected, along with precursor material cation ratios in order to obtain the desired final product and crystal structure. The controlled introduction of imperfections or crystal defects through MoS2 synthesis variations also revealed the tuning ability of flake edge morphology, nanoflower diameter, stacked-sheet thickness, optical Eg and catalytic activity. The nanoflower Eg ranged from 1.38 to 1.83 eV, and the production rates of CO nearly doubled when post treating the nanoflowers in a reduction step. These developments support tunable gas phase photocatalytic activity and can be enhanced further for further photocatalytic reactions, optoelectronics and field emitter applications. The photoreactor studies indicated that careful tuning of the parent material is imperative to understand before adding a co-catalyst or doping process, as the edge site morphology, crystal phase stability, and strain-induced defects impact the photocatalytic performance.

Two-Dimensional (2D) materials often exhibit distinguished properties as compared to their 3D counterparts and offer great potential to advance technology. However, even graphene, the first synthesized 2D material, still faces several challenges, despite its high mobility and high thermal conductivity. Similarly, germanene and silicene face challenges due to readily available semiconducting properties to be used in electronics, photonics or photocatalysis applications. Here, we propose two approaches to tune the band gap: One is by forming nanoribbon and edge functionalization and another by doping using inorganic nanoparticle’s interaction with 2D nanomaterials. Edge functionalization of armchair germanene nanoribbons (AGeNRs) has the potential to achieve a range of band gaps. The edge atoms of AGeNRs are passivated with hydrogen (-H and -2H) or halogen (-F, -Cl,-OH, -2F,-2Cl) atoms. Using density functional theory calculations, we found that edge-functionalized AGeNRs had band gaps as small as 0.012 eV when functionalized by -2H and as high as 0.84 eV with -2F. Doping can change the semiconducting behavior of AGeNRs to metal due to the half-filled band making it useful for negative differential resistance (NDR) devices. In the case of zigzag germanene nanoribbons (ZGeNRs), single N or B doping transformed them from anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) semiconducting to ferromagnetic (FM) semiconductor or half-metal. Lastly, formation and edge free energy studies revealed the feasibility of chemical synthetization of edge-functionalized and doped germanene. Electronic, optical and transport properties of the graphene/ZnO heterostructure have been explored using first-principles density functional theory. The results show that Zn12O12 can open a band gap of 14.5 meV in graphene, increase its optical absorption by 1.67 times, covering the visible spectrum and extended to the infra-red (IR) range, and create slight nonlinear I-V characteristics depending on the applied bias. This agrees well with collaborative experimental measurement of a similar system. In conclusion, we have successfully studied the potential use of edge functionalization, band gap periodicity in nanoribbon width, and doping in germanene nanoribbons. Structural stability was also studied to investigate the feasibility for experimental synthesization. Inorganic nanoparticle’s interaction with graphene envisages the possibility of fabricating photo-electronic device covering visible spectrum and beyond. Finally, graphene complexes were merged with naturally available direct band gap of monolayer MoS2 to build efficient energy harvesting and photo detecting devices.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been demonstrated to be a potential catalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Due to its highly active edge site, abundance, and low cost, it rivals Pt. However, the potential activity of the MoS2 basal plane has largely been ignored. The physical characteristics of MoS2 and its corresponding band structure change significantly with decreasing thickness, especially at the monolayer limit. Thus, an investigation on the thickness dependence may provide important insights into the MoS2 basal plane activity. In this thesis, the layer dependent electrocatalytic performance is investigated with mono-, bi- and multilayer MoS2 based individual nanodevices. Three conclusions were reached. (1) Monolayers showed exchange current densities more than one order of magnitude higher than that of the multilayers, 0.12 mA/cm2 and 8.7 mA/cm2, respectively. Furthermore, the onset potential of the monolayer was several hundred millivolts lower than that of the multilayer, about 0.2 V vs RHE for the monolayer versus 0.5 V vs RHE for the multilayer. The Tafel slope of 100-200 mV/dec revealed that the rate limiting step was the adsorption of hydrogen. (2) Interestingly, the bilayer sample exhibited an increase in its exchange current density from 0.3 mA/cm2 to 8 mA/cm2 when cycled extensively. This is suspected to be caused by intercalation of hydrogen between the atomic layers. (3) Additionally, the back-gate voltage is applied to tune the Fermi level of the material and the catalytic performance. It was found that the back-gate voltage induces an irreversible change in all samples, increasing the exchange current density by an order of magnitude. The superior basal plane performance of the monolayers to that of the multilayers reveals a new way to optimize the performance of MoS2 as a HER catalyst. In addition, the results above illuminate the yellow brick road to potential improvements in other layered materials as well.

Au delà du graphène, de nouveaux semiconducteurs 2D tels que MoS2, GaS, GaSe et InSe deviennent pertinents pour les applications et dispositifs émergents. Dans cette thèse, nous fabriquons des échantillons de quelques feuillets atomiques de ces matériaux pour des dispositifs de photo-détecteurs et les caractérisons par microscopie optique, AFM et TEM. L'interaction de la lumière avec le substrat et le dispositif ultra-mince étant critique pour son fonctionnement, nous calculons et mesurons le contraste et l'intensité de la lumière diffusée par le dispositif. Nous caractérisons également la réponse Raman et la photoluminescence en fonction du nombre de couches pour étudier les propriétés vibrationnelles et électroniques. Plusieurs dispositifs ont été fabriqués et analysés. Nous examinons d'abord les dispositifs homogènes basés sur MoS2, GaSe ou InSe, et trouvons une excellente photosensibilité pour notre photo-détecteur MoS2. Nous examinons ensuite plusieurs hétéro-structures pour combiner les propriétés de chaque matériau et atteindre de meilleures performances. Le premier exemple est un photo-détecteur graphène/InSe dont la photosensibilité augmente de quatre ordres de grandeur par rapport à un dispositif basés sur InSe seul. Nous montrons également que la couche supérieure de graphène prévient la dégradation de couches atomiques ultra-minces dans l'air. Des hétéro-structures plus complexes graphène/InSe/graphène et graphène/InSe/Au montrent un effet photovoltaïque. Enfin, nous combinons InSe avec MoS2 et obtenons un dispositifs avec photo-réponse rapide, un comportement de type photo-diode, une distribution de photo-courant uniforme et un fort effet photovoltaïque. / Novel two dimensional (2D) semiconductors beyond graphene such as MoS2, GaS, GaSe and InSe are increasingly relevant for emergent applications and devices. In this thesis, we fabricate these 2D samples for photo-detector applications and characterize them with optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Since the interaction of light with the substrate and the ultra-thin photodetector device is critical for its functioning we calculate and measure optical contrast and intensity of light scattered from the device. We also characterize the Raman and PL response as a function of number of layers to study both vibrational properties and the band gap transition. For the device application, we first examine homogenous devices based on few-layer MoS2, GaSe and InSe respectively and find an excellent photoresponsivity in our few-layer MoS2 photo-detector. We then examine several geometries for heterostructure devices, which have the advantage of combining favorable properties of each material to reach better performances. The first example is a graphene/InSe photo-detector where the photoresponsivity increases by four orders of magnitude with respect to a few-layer InSe device while the top graphene layer is also shown to prevent degradation of ultra-thin atomic layers in air. Still more complex graphene/InSe/graphene and graphene/InSe/Au heterostructures show a photovoltaic effect. Finally for the first time, we combine InSe with MoS2 and obtain a high performance device with fast photo-response, photodiode like behavior, uniform photocurrent distribution and high photovoltaic effect.