Mechanical Properties of 2D LiInP2Se6: Implication for Semiconductor Applications

Doyun Kim, Eric K. Qian, Daniel G. Chica, Yu Hsiang Chiang, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Qing Tu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPTCs) are emerging 2D semiconductor materials with unique functional properties that set them apart from other 2D systems. Despite the importance of their mechanical properties for improving the semiconductor device's durability and performance, as well as for utilizing strain effects to customize material properties and create new functionality, our current understanding of MPTCs' mechanical behavior is lacking and lags behind our knowledge of their other properties. Here, we use LiInP2Se6as a model example of MPTCs and report the first experimental measurements of the elastic and plastic (fracture) properties along both in-plane and out-of-plane directions by atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation. Being a 2D material that is entirely inorganic, LiInP2Se6surprisingly exhibits mechanical properties that resemble those of hybrid organic-inorganic materials rather than pure inorganic 2D materials. It has a soft crystal structure with low elastic moduli, a low difference in in-plane vs out-of-plane mechanical properties, and a combination of elastic and plastic characteristics of hybrid organic-inorganic materials. Our work provides the mechanical information critically needed to mitigate and/or harness the strain effects in LiInP2Se6-based semiconductor devices and sheds light on the mechanical behaviors of MPTCs with indispensable insights.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)8214-8221
Number of pages8
JournalACS Applied Nano Materials
Volume6
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - May 26 2023

Funding

D.K. and Q.T. acknowledge support through the startup funds from the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) to Q.T. and the Texas A&M Triads for Transformation (T3) grant. This material is based in part upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, USA, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, USA, under Award Number DE-SC-0019446. The authors acknowledge the instrument nanoindentation part of this work, which was performed in the Texas A & M University Materials Characterization Core Facility (RRID: SCR_022202 ). The authors thank Prof. George M. Pharr for providing free access to the SEM in his laboratory.

Keywords

  • 2D semiconductor
  • in-plane
  • mechanical properties
  • metal phosphorus trichalcogenides
  • out-of-plane

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science

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