Uncovering the Atomic Structure of Substitutional Platinum Dopants in MoS<sub>2</sub> with Single-Sideband Ptychography.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40410125.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c00919 and PMC identifier 12142672.
- 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
We substitute individual Pt atoms into monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub> and study the resulting atomic structures with single-sideband ptychography (SSB) supported by <i>ab initio</i> simulations. We demonstrate that while high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging provides excellent <i>Z</i>-contrast, distinguishing some defect types such as single and double sulfur vacancies remains challenging due to their low relative contrast difference. However, SSB with its nearly linear <i>Z</i>-contrast and high phase sensitivity enables reliable identification of these defect configurations, as well as various Pt dopant structures at significantly lower electron doses. Our findings uncover the precise atomic placement and highlight the potential of SSB for detailed structural analysis of dopant-modified 2D materials while minimizing beam-induced damage, offering new pathways for understanding and engineering atomic-scale features in 2D systems.