2D atomic crystal molecular superlattices by soft plasma intercalation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33235208.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-19766-x and PMC identifier 7686334.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystal superlattices integrate diverse 2D layered materials enabling adjustable electronic and optical properties. However, tunability of the interlayer gap and interactions remain challenging. Here we report a solution based on soft oxygen plasma intercalation. 2D atomic crystal molecular superlattices (ACMSs) are produced by intercalating O<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup> ions into the interlayer space using the plasma electric field. Stable molecular oxygen layer is formed by van der Waals interactions with adjacent transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers. The resulting interlayer gap expansion can effectively isolate TMD monolayers and impart exotic properties to homo-(MoS<sub>2</sub>[O<sub>2</sub>]<sub>x</sub>) and hetero-(MoS<sub>2</sub>[O<sub>2</sub>]<sub>x</sub>/WS<sub>2</sub>[O<sub>2</sub>]<sub>x</sub>) stacked ACMSs beyond typical capacities of monolayer TMDs, such as 100 times stronger photoluminescence and 100 times higher photocurrent. Our potentially universal approach to tune interlayer stacking and interactions in 2D ACMSs may lead to exotic superlattice properties intrinsic to monolayer materials such as direct bandgap pursued for future optoelectronics.