Jiong Zhao

Phase patterning for ohmic homojunction contact in MoTe2

Making better contacts A key issue in fabricating transistors is making a good electrical contact to the semiconductor gate material. For two-dimensional materials, one route is through a phase transition that converts a hexagonally packed semiconductor phase into a distorted octahedrally packed metallic phase. Cho et al. show that laser heating of molybdenum telluride (MoTe2) achieves this conversion through the creation of Te vacancies. The phase transition improves charge carrier mobility while maintaining the low resistance necessary for improved transistor function. Science, this issue p. 625 A laser-heating method creates a metallic phase on semiconducting molybdenum telluride. Artificial van der Waals heterostructures with two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals are promising as an active channel or as a buffer contact layer for next-generation devices. However, genuine 2D heterostructure devices remain limited because of impurity-involved transfer process and metastable and inhomogeneous heterostructure formation. We used laser-induced phase patterning, a polymorph engineering, to fabricate an ohmic heterophase homojunction between semiconducting hexagonal (2H) and metallic monoclinic (1T’) molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) that is stable up to 300°C and increases the carrier mobility of the MoTe2 transistor by a factor of about 50, while retaining a high on/off current ratio of 106. In situ scanning transmission electron microscopy results combined with theoretical calculations reveal that the Te vacancy triggers the local phase transition in MoTe2, achieving a true 2D device with an ohmic contact.

Free-standing single-atom-thick iron membranes suspended in graphene pores.

Iron in Graphene Carbon or other covalently bonded materials, like boron nitride, can form two-dimensional sheets because of the strong bonding between the atoms. In contrast, metals share electrons in a three-dimensional delocalized way, and this could preclude the formation of thin stable sheets. Nevertheless, Zhao et al. (p. 1228) observed pure iron membranes suspended across the pores in a graphene sheet. This phenomenon was discovered when an iron chloride solution, used to process the graphene, decomposed to form pure iron films across the pores. The pores in a graphene membrane stabilize the formation of two-dimensional iron sheets. The excess of surface dangling bonds makes the formation of free-standing two-dimensional (2D) metals unstable and hence difficult to achieve. To date, only a few reports have demonstrated 2D metal formation over substrates. Here, we show a free-standing crystalline single-atom-thick layer of iron (Fe) using in situ low-voltage aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and supporting image simulations. First-principles calculations confirm enhanced magnetic properties for single-atom-thick 2D Fe membranes. This work could pave the way for new 2D structures to be formed in graphene membranes.

A Growth Mechanism for Free-Standing Vertical Graphene

We propose a detailed mechanism for the growth of vertical graphene by plasma-enhanced vapor deposition. Different steps during growth including nucleation, growth, and completion of the free-standing two-dimensional structures are characterized and analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. The nucleation of vertical graphene growth is either from the buffer layer or from the surface of carbon onions. A continuum model based on the surface diffusion and moving boundary (mass flow) is developed to describe the intermediate states of the steps and the edges of graphene. The experimentally observed convergence tendency of the steps near the top edge can be explained by this model. We also observed the closure of the top edges that can possibly stop the growth. This two-dimensional vertical growth follows a self-nucleated, step-flow mode, explained for the first time.

Electrical Breakdown of Nanowires

Instantaneous electrical breakdown measurements of GaN and Ag nanowires are performed by an in situ transmission electron microscopy method. Our results directly reveal the mechanism that typical thermally heated semiconductor nanowires break at the midpoint, while metallic nanowires breakdown near the two ends due to the stress induced by electromigration. The different breakdown mechanisms for the nanowires are caused by the different thermal and electrical properties of the materials.

Conductivity enhancement by slight indium doping in ZnO nanowires for optoelectronic applications

Undoped and In-doped ZnO nanowires (NWs) have been synthesized by thermal evaporation. The effect of indium doping on the structure, morphology and electrical/optical properties of the as-grown NWs has been investigated. It has been found that the doped NWs are single crystalline along different orientations, preferably in the [ 0001 ] growthdirection. The peak shifts and broadening in the x-ray diffraction pattern confirm the incorporation of indium into the ZnO lattice. The amount of contents and the valence state of In ions have been investigated through energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray spectroscopy, which demonstrate that the In ions are uniformly doped about 2 at% into each NW and are in the +3 oxidation state. In addition, the photoluminescence spectrum for the doped sample having a blue shift in the UV region shows a prominent tuning in the optical band gap. Furthermore, the presence of In dopant in ZnO NWs induces a dramatic decrease in the electrical resistivity of NWs, which makes it potentially applicable for optoelectronics devices. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Observing Grain Boundaries in CVD-Grown Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Two-dimensional monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMdCs), driven by graphene science, revisit optical and electronic properties, which are markedly different from bulk characteristics. These properties are easily modified due to accessibility of all the atoms viable to ambient gases, and therefore, there is no guarantee that impurities and defects such as vacancies, grain boundaries, and wrinkles behave as those of ideal bulk. On the other hand, this could be advantageous in engineering such defects. Here, we report a method of observing grain boundary distribution of monolayer TMdCs by a selective oxidation. This was implemented by exposing directly the TMdC layer grown on sapphire without transfer to ultraviolet light irradiation under moisture-rich conditions. The generated oxygen and hydroxyl radicals selectively functionalized defective grain boundaries in TMdCs to provoke morphological changes at the boundary, where the grain boundary distribution was observed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This paves the way toward the investigation of transport properties engineered by defects and grain boundaries.

Freestanding Ultrathin Metallic Nanosheets: Materials, Synthesis, and Applications.

Freestanding ultrathin metallic nanosheets (FUMNSs) with atomic thickness attract extensive attention because they display remarkable advantages over their bulk counterparts by virtue of their large specific area, high aspect ratio, and unsaturated surface coordination. The state of the art of research on FUMNSs is reviewed here, wherein the important progress from the aspects of material category, synthetic strategy, and practical application are introduced, and it is demonstrated that FUMNSs will play an important role in the fields of optoelectrics, catalysis, and magnetism.

In Situ Observations of Free-Standing Graphene-like Mono- and Bilayer ZnO Membranes

ZnO in its many forms, such as bulk, thin films, nanorods, nanobelts, and quantum dots, attracts significant attention because of its exciting optical, electronic, and magnetic properties. For very thin ZnO films, predictions were made that the bulk wurtzite ZnO structure would transit to a layered graphene-like structure. Graphene-like ZnO layers were later confirmed when supported over a metal substrate. However, the existence of free-standing graphene-like ZnO has, to the best of our knowledge, not been demonstrated. In this work, we show experimental evidence for the in situ formation of free-standing graphene-like ZnO mono- and bilayer ZnO membranes suspended in graphene pores. Local electron energy loss spectroscopy confirms the membranes comprise only Zn and O. Image simulations and supporting analysis confirm that the membranes are graphene-like ZnO. Graphene-like ZnO layers are predicted to have a wide band gap and different and exciting properties as compared to other ZnO structures.

Misorientation-angle-dependent electrical transport across molybdenum disulfide grain boundaries

Grain boundaries in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides have unique atomic defect structures and band dispersion relations that depend on the inter-domain misorientation angle. Here, we explore misorientation angle-dependent electrical transport at grain boundaries in monolayer MoS2 by correlating the atomic defect structures of measured devices analysed with transmission electron microscopy and first-principles calculations. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that grain boundaries are primarily composed of 5–7 dislocation cores with periodicity and additional complex defects formed at high angles, obeying the classical low-angle theory for angles <22°. The inter-domain mobility is minimized for angles <9° and increases nonlinearly by two orders of magnitude before saturating at ∼16 cm2 V−1 s−1 around misorientation angle≈20°. This trend is explained via grain-boundary electrostatic barriers estimated from density functional calculations and experimental tunnelling barrier heights, which are ≈0.5 eV at low angles and ≈0.15 eV at high angles (≥20°).

Electron-Beam-Induced Elastic–Plastic Transition in Si Nanowires

It is generally accepted that silicon nanowires (Si NWs) exhibit linear elastic behavior until fracture without any appreciable plastic deformation. However, the plasticity of Si NWs can be triggered under low strain rate inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In this report, two in situ TEM experiments were conducted to investigate the electron-beam (e-beam) effect on the plasticity of Si NWs. An e-beam illuminating with a low current intensity would result in the bond re-forming processes, achieving the plastic deformation with a bent strain over 40% in Si NWs near the room temperature. In addition, an effective method was proposed to shape the Si NWs, where an e-beam-induced elastic-plastic (E-P) transition took place.