Strong In-Plane Optoelectronic Anisotropy and Polarization Sensitivity in Low-Symmetry 2D Violet Phosphorus

Anisotropic optoelectronics based on low-symmetry two-dimensional (2D) materials hold immense potential for enabling multidimensional visual perception with improved miniaturization and integration capabilities, which has attracted extensive interest in optical communication, high-gain photoswitching circuits, and polarization imaging fields. However, the reported in-plane anisotropic photocurrent and polarized dichroic ratios are limited, hindering the achievement of high-performance anisotropic optoelectronics. In this study, we introduce novel low-symmetry violet phosphorus (VP) with a unique tubular cross-linked structure into this realm, and the corresponding anisotropic optical and optoelectronic properties are investigated both experimentally and theoretically for the first time. Remarkably, our prepared VP-based van der Waals phototransistor exhibits significant optoelectronic anisotropies with a giant in-plane anisotropic photocurrent ratio exceeding 10 and a comparable polarized dichroic ratio of 2.16, which is superior to those of most reported 2D counterparts. Our findings establish VP as an exceptional candidate for anisotropic optoelectronics, paving the way for future multifunctional applications.