skip to main content


Title: Two-dimensional material templates for van der Waals epitaxy, remote epitaxy, and intercalation growth

Epitaxial growth, a crystallographically oriented growth induced by the chemical bonding between crystalline substrate and atomic building blocks, has been a key technique in the thin-film and heterostructure applications of semiconductors. However, the epitaxial growth technique is limited by different lattice mismatch and thermal expansion coefficients of dissimilar crystals. Two-dimensional (2D) materials with dangling bond-free van der Waals surfaces have been used as growth templates for the hetero-integration of highly mismatched materials. Moreover, the ultrathin nature of 2D materials also allows for remote epitaxial growth and confinement growth of quasi-2D materials via intercalation. Here, we review the hetero-dimensional growth on 2D substrates: van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE), quasi vdWE, and intercalation growth. We discuss the growth mechanism and fundamental challenges for vdWE on 2D substrates. We also examine emerging vdWE techniques that use epitaxial liftoff and confinement epitaxial growth in detail. Finally, we give a brief review of radiation effects in 2D materials and contrast the damage induced with their 3D counterparts.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
1856662
NSF-PAR ID:
10370914
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Institute of Physics
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Reviews
Volume:
9
Issue:
3
ISSN:
1931-9401
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Advancements in low‐dimensional functional device technology heavily rely on the discovery of suitable materials which have interesting physical properties as well as can be exfoliated down to the 2D limit. Exfoliable high‐mobility magnets are one such class of materials that, not due to lack of effort, has been limited to only a handful of options. So far, most of the attention has been focused on the van der Waals (vdW) systems. However, even within the non‐vdW, layered materials, it is possible to find all these desirable features. Using chemical reasoning, it is found that NdSb2is an ideal example. Even with a relatively small interlayer distance, this material can be exfoliated down to few layers. NdSb2has an antiferromagnetic ground state with a quasi 2D spin arrangement. The bulk crystals show a very large, non‐saturating magnetoresistance along with highly anisotropic electronic transport properties. It is confirmed that this anisotropy originates from the 2D Fermi pockets which also imply a rather quasi 2D confinement of the charge carrier density. Both electron and hole‐type carriers show very high mobilities. The possible non‐collinear spin arrangement also results in an anomalous Hall effect.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    Heterogeneous integrations of functionally and chemically distinct materials have been explored to develop promising building blocks for opto‐electronic device applications. Recently, the Van der Waals (vdW)‐assembly of near atom thickness materials has provided excellent opportunities beyond what has been previously been difficult to realize. However, its up‐to‐date demonstrations remain far from achieving the scalability and versatility demanded for practical device applications, that is, the integration is generally demonstrated with intrinsically layered 2D materials of very small lateral dimensions. Herein, the large centimeter‐scale vdW assembly of two different materials with structurally, chemically, and functionally distinct properties, that is, 2D platinum ditelluride (PtTe2) metallic multilayers and non‐layered 3D semiconducting platinum sulfide (PtS) are reported. Both materials are precisely delaminated from their growth wafers inside water and are subsequently integrated on unconventional substrates of desired functionalities. The large‐area vdW‐assembled 2D/3D PtTe2/PtS hetero‐materials on flexible substrates exhibit an excellent photodetection in a spectral range of visible‐to‐near infrared (NIR) wavelength, which is well preserved under severe mechanical deformation. This study paves the way for exploring large‐area flexible opto‐electronic devices solely based on near atom thickness materials.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    Two-dimensional van der Waals materials such as graphene present an opportunity for band structure engineering using custom superlattice potentials. In this study, we demonstrate how self-assemblies of magnetic iron-oxide (Fe3O4) nanospheres stacked on monolayer graphene generate a proximity-induced magnetic superlattice in graphene and modify its band structure. Interactions between the nanospheres and the graphene layer generate superlattice Dirac points in addition to a gapped energy spectrum near the K and K′ valleys, resulting in magnetic confinement of quasiparticles around the nanospheres. This is evidenced by gate-dependent resistance oscillations, observed in our low temperature transport measurements, and confirmed by self-consistent tight binding calculations. Furthermore, we show that an external magnetic field can tune the magnetic superlattice potential created by the nanospheres, and thus the transport characteristics of the system. This technique for magnetic-field-tuned band structure engineering using magnetic nanostructures can be extended to a broader class of 2D van der Waals and topological materials.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Interfacial adhesion energy is a fundamental property of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and van der Waals heterostructures due to their intrinsic ultrahigh surface to volume ratio, making adhesion forces very strong in many processes related to fabrication, integration and performance of devices incorporating 2D crystals. However, direct quantitative characterization of adhesion behavior of fresh and aged homo/heterointerfaces at nanoscale has remained elusive. Here, we use an atomic force microscopy technique to report precise adhesion measurements in ambient air through well-defined interactions of tip-attached 2D crystal nanomesas with 2D crystal and SiOxsubstrates. We quantify how different levels of short-range dispersive and long-range electrostatic interactions respond to airborne contaminants and humidity upon thermal annealing. We show that a simple but very effective precooling treatment can protect 2D crystal substrates against the airborne contaminants and thus boost the adhesion level at the interface of similar and dissimilar van der Waals heterostructures. Our combined experimental and computational analysis also reveals a distinctive interfacial behavior in transition metal dichalcogenides and graphite/SiOxheterostructures beyond the widely accepted van der Waals interaction.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    Single-crystalline membranes of functional materials enable the tuning of properties via extreme strain states; however, conventional routes for producing membranes require the use of sacrificial layers and chemical etchants, which can both damage the membrane and limit the ability to make them ultrathin. Here we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of the cubic Heusler compound GdPtSb on graphene-terminated Al2O3substrates. Despite the presence of the graphene interlayer, the Heusler films have epitaxial registry to the underlying sapphire, as revealed by x-ray diffraction, reflection high energy electron diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The weak Van der Waals interactions of graphene enable mechanical exfoliation to yield free-standing GdPtSb membranes, which form ripples when transferred to a flexible polymer handle. Whereas unstrained GdPtSb is antiferromagnetic, measurements on rippled membranes show a spontaneous magnetic moment at room temperature, with a saturation magnetization of 5.2 bohr magneton per Gd. First-principles calculations show that the coupling to homogeneous strain is too small to induce ferromagnetism, suggesting a dominant role for strain gradients. Our membranes provide a novel platform for tuning the magnetic properties of intermetallic compounds via strain (piezomagnetism and magnetostriction) and strain gradients (flexomagnetism).

     
    more » « less