Atomic sawtooth-like metal films for vdW-layered single-crystal growth.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38992071.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-50184-5 and PMC identifier 11239812.
- 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
Atomic sawtooth surfaces have emerged as a versatile platform for growth of single-crystal van der Waals layered materials. However, the mechanism governing the formation of single-crystal atomic sawtooth metal (copper or gold) films on hard substrates (tungsten or molybdenum) remains a puzzle. In this study, we aim to elucidate the formation mechanism of atomic sawtooth metal films during melting-solidification process. Utilizing molecular dynamics, we unveil that the solidification of the liquid copper initiates at a high-index tungsten facet with higher interfacial energy. Subsequent tungsten facets follow energetically favourable pathways of forming single-crystal atomic sawtooth copper film during the solidification process near melting temperature. Formation of atomic sawtooth copper film is guaranteed with a film thickness exceeding the grain size of polycrystalline tungsten substrate. We further demonstrate the successful growth of centimeter-scale single-crystal monolayer hexagonal boron nitride films on atomic sawtooth copper films and explore their potential as efficient oxygen barrier.