Atomically thin half-van der Waals metals enabled by confinement heteroepitaxy

Natalie Briggs^#^{1

2

3}, Brian Bersch^#^{1

2}, Yuanxi Wang^#^{2

3}, Jue Jiang⁴, Roland J Koch^{5

6}, Nadire Nayir^{3

7}, Ke Wang⁸, Marek Kolmer⁹, Wonhee Ko⁹, Ana De La Fuente Duran¹, Shruti Subramanian^{1

2}, Chengye Dong^{1

2}, Jeffrey Shallenberger⁸, Mingming Fu⁹, Qiang Zou⁹, Ya-Wen Chuang⁴, Zheng Gai⁹, An-Ping Li⁹, Aaron Bostwick⁵, Chris Jozwiak⁵, Cui-Zu Chang⁴, Eli Rotenberg⁵, Jun Zhu^{2

4}, Adri C T van Duin^{1

3

7

8

10

11

12}, Vincent Crespi^{2

3

4

8}, Joshua A Robinson^{13

14

15

16

17}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
² Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
³ 2-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁵ Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁶ The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁸ Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁹ Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹² Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁴ Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁵ 2-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁶ Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁷ Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 32157191
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-0631-x

Free article

Atomically thin half-van der Waals metals enabled by confinement heteroepitaxy

Natalie Briggs et al. Nat Mater. 2020 Jun.

Free article

. 2020 Jun;19(6):637-643.

doi: 10.1038/s41563-020-0631-x. Epub 2020 Mar 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
² Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
³ 2-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁵ Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁶ The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁸ Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁹ Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹² Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁴ Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁵ 2-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁶ Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.
¹⁷ Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. jrobinson@psu.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 32157191
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-0631-x

Abstract

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) metals may be key ingredients in next-generation quantum and optoelectronic devices. However, 2D metals must be stabilized against environmental degradation and integrated into heterostructure devices at the wafer scale. The high-energy interface between silicon carbide and epitaxial graphene provides an intriguing framework for stabilizing a diverse range of 2D metals. Here we demonstrate large-area, environmentally stable, single-crystal 2D gallium, indium and tin that are stabilized at the interface of epitaxial graphene and silicon carbide. The 2D metals are covalently bonded to SiC below but present a non-bonded interface to the graphene overlayer; that is, they are 'half van der Waals' metals with strong internal gradients in bonding character. These non-centrosymmetric 2D metals offer compelling opportunities for superconducting devices, topological phenomena and advanced optoelectronic properties. For example, the reported 2D Ga is a superconductor that combines six strongly coupled Ga-derived electron pockets with a large nearly free-electron Fermi surface that closely approaches the Dirac points of the graphene overlayer.

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References

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Atomically thin half-van der Waals metals enabled by confinement heteroepitaxy

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Atomically thin half-van der Waals metals enabled by confinement heteroepitaxy

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