Evaporative thinning: A facile synthesis method for high quality ultrathin layers of 2D crystals

Yi Kai Huang, Jeffrey D. Cain, Lintao Peng, Shiqiang Hao, Thomas Chasapis, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Christopher Wolverton, Matthew Grayson, Vinayak P. Dravid*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The palette of two-dimensional materials has expanded beyond graphene in recent years to include the chalcogenides among other systems. However, there is a considerable paucity of methods for controlled synthesis of mono- and/or few-layer two-dimensional materials with desirable quality, reproducibility, and generality. Here we show a facile top-down synthesis approach for ultrathin layers of 2D materials down to monolayer. Our method is based on controlled evaporative thinning of initially large sheets, as deposited by vapor mass-transport. Rather than optimizing conditions for monolayer deposition, our approach makes use of selective evaporation of thick sheets to control the eventual thickness, down to a monolayer, a process which appears to be self-stopping. As a result, 2D sheets with high yield, high reproducibility, and excellent quality can be generated with large (>10 μm) and thin (∼1-2 nm) dimensions. Evaporative thinning promises to greatly reduce the difficulty involved in isolating large, mono- and few-layers of 2D materials for subsequent studies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)10851-10857
Number of pages7
JournalACS nano
Volume8
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 28 2014

Keywords

  • 2D synthesis
  • bismuth selenide
  • transmission electron microscopy
  • two-dimensional (2D) materials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • General Engineering
  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evaporative thinning: A facile synthesis method for high quality ultrathin layers of 2D crystals'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this