Composition and phase engineering of metal chalcogenides and phosphorous chalcogenides

• Published in: Nature materials Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 450 - 458
• Main Authors: Zhou, Jiadong, Zhu, Chao, Zhou, Yao, Dong, Jichen, Li, Peiling, Zhang, Zhaowei, Wang, Zhen, Lin, Yung-Chang, Shi, Jia, Zhang, Runwu, Zheng, Yanzhen, Yu, Huimei, Tang, Bijun, Liu, Fucai, Wang, Lin, Liu, Liwei, Liu, Gui-Bin, Hu, Weida, Gao, Yanfeng, Yang, Haitao, Gao, Weibo, Lu, Li, Wang, Yeliang, Suenaga, Kazu, Liu, Guangtong, Ding, Feng, Yao, Yugui, Liu, Zheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 140/133; 140/146; 639/301/119/1003; 639/301/357/1018; Biomaterials; Chalcogenides; Chemical reactions; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromium; Competition; Composition; Condensed Matter Physics; Controllability; Crystals; Engineering; Ferromagnetism; Iron; Laboratories; Manganese; Materials Science; Metals; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Nucleation; Optical and Electronic Materials; Palladium; Phase transitions; Physics; Pyrite; Superconductivity; Transition metal compounds; Two dimensional materials
• ISSN: 1476-1122; 1476-4660; 1476-4660
• DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01291-5

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with multiphase, multielement crystals such as transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) (based on V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cd, Pt and Pd) and transition metal phosphorous chalcogenides (TMPCs) offer a unique platform to explore novel physical phenomena. However, the synthesis of a single-phase/single-composition crystal of these 2D materials via chemical vapour deposition is still challenging. Here we unravel a competitive-chemical-reaction-based growth mechanism to manipulate the nucleation and growth rate. Based on the growth mechanism, 67 types of TMCs and TMPCs with a defined phase, controllable structure and tunable component can be realized. The ferromagnetism and superconductivity in FeX y can be tuned by the y value, such as superconductivity observed in FeX and ferromagnetism in FeS 2 monolayers, demonstrating the high quality of as-grown 2D materials. This work paves the way for the multidisciplinary exploration of 2D TMPCs and TMCs with unique properties. A competitive-chemical-reaction-based growth mechanism by controlling the kinetic parameters can easily realize the growth of transition metal chalcogenides and transition metal phosphorous chalcogenides with different compositions and phases.