Exfoliation of natural van der Waals heterostructures to a single unit cell thickness

Matěj Velický (), Peter S. Toth, Alexander M. Rakowski, Aidan P. Rooney, Aleksey Kozikov, Colin R. Woods, Artem Mishchenko, Laura Fumagalli, Jun Yin, Viktor Zólyomi, Thanasis Georgiou, Sarah J. Haigh, Kostya S. Novoselov and Robert A. W. Dryfe ()
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Matěj Velický: School of Chemistry, University of Manchester
Peter S. Toth: School of Chemistry, University of Manchester
Alexander M. Rakowski: School of Materials, University of Manchester
Aidan P. Rooney: School of Materials, University of Manchester
Aleksey Kozikov: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Colin R. Woods: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Artem Mishchenko: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Laura Fumagalli: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Jun Yin: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Viktor Zólyomi: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Thanasis Georgiou: Manchester Nanomaterials Ltd
Sarah J. Haigh: School of Materials, University of Manchester
Kostya S. Novoselov: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
Robert A. W. Dryfe: School of Chemistry, University of Manchester

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Weak interlayer interactions in van der Waals crystals facilitate their mechanical exfoliation to monolayer and few-layer two-dimensional materials, which often exhibit striking physical phenomena absent in their bulk form. Here we utilize mechanical exfoliation to produce a two-dimensional form of a mineral franckeite and show that the phase segregation of chemical species into discrete layers at the sub-nanometre scale facilitates franckeite’s layered structure and basal cleavage down to a single unit cell thickness. This behaviour is likely to be common in a wider family of complex minerals and could be exploited for a single-step synthesis of van der Waals heterostructures, as an alternative to artificial stacking of individual two-dimensional crystals. We demonstrate p-type electrical conductivity and remarkable electrochemical properties of the exfoliated crystals, showing promise for a range of applications, and use the density functional theory calculations of franckeite’s electronic band structure to rationalize the experimental results.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14410

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