Two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe 2 ) is an interesting material for fundamental study and applications, due to its ability to exist in different polymorphs of 2H, 1T, and 1T′, their phase change behavior, and unique electronic properties. Although much progress has been made in the growth of high-quality flakes and films of 2H and 1T′-MoTe 2 phases, phase-selective growth of all three phases remains a huge challenge, due to the lack of enough information on their growth mechanism. Herein, we present a novel approach to growing films and geometrical-shaped few-layer flakes of 2D 2H-, 1T-, and 1T′-MoTe 2 by atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) and present a thorough understanding of the phase-selective growth mechanism by employing the concept of thermodynamics and chemical kinetics involved in the growth processes. Our approach involves optimization of growth parameters and understanding using thermodynamical software, HSC Chemistry. A lattice strain-mediated mechanism has been proposed to explain the phase selective growth of 2D MoTe 2 , and different chemical kinetics-guided strategies have been developed to grow MoTe 2 flakes and films.
This content will become publicly available on July 18, 2023
Phase transition of Al 2 O 3 -encapsulated MoTe 2 via rapid thermal annealing
Among group VI transition metal dichalcogenides, MoTe 2 is predicted to have the smallest energy offset between semiconducting 2H and semimetallic 1T′ states. This makes it an attractive phase change material for both electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here, we report fast, nondestructive, and full phase change in Al 2 O 3 -encapsulated 2H-MoTe 2 thin films to 1T′-MoTe 2 using rapid thermal annealing at 900 °C. Phase change was confirmed using Raman spectroscopy after a short annealing duration of 10 s in both vacuum and nitrogen ambient. No thickness dependence of the transition temperatures was observed for flake thickness ranging from 1.5 to 8 nm. These results represent a major step forward in understanding the structural phase transition properties of MoTe 2 thin films using external heating and underline the importance of surface encapsulation for avoiding thin film degradation.
- Award ID(s):
- 1843395
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10341468
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Volume:
- 121
- Issue:
- 3
- Page Range or eLocation-ID:
- 033101
- ISSN:
- 0003-6951
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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