Sub-2-nm-droplet-driven growth of amorphous metal chalcogenides approaching the single-layer limit

Shi, Zude and Qin, Wen and Hu, Zhili and Ma, Mingyu and Liu, Hong and Shu, Zhiwen and Jiang, Yubing and Xia, Hang and Shi, Wenyan and Zhang, Chao Yue and Sang, Xiaoru and Guo, Cui and Li, Yunxin and Liu, Chengzhi and Gong, Chengshi and Wang, Hong and Liu, Song and Tapasztó, Levente and Gao, Caitian and Liu, Fucai and Tang, Pengyi and Liu, Yuan and Duan, Huigao and Xie, Erqing and Zhang, Zhuhua and Liu, Zheng and He, Yongmin (2025) Sub-2-nm-droplet-driven growth of amorphous metal chalcogenides approaching the single-layer limit. NATURE MATERIALS, 24 (8). pp. 1186-1194. ISSN 1476-1122

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Abstract

Atom-thin amorphous materials (for example, amorphous monolayer carbon) offer a designable material platform for fundamental studies of the disorder system, as well as the development of various applications. However, their growth at a single layer remains challenging since their thermodynamically favourable grains are neither two dimensional nor layered. Here we demonstrate the growth of 1-nm-thick, amorphous metal chalcogenides at a wafer scale using a nanodroplet-driven nanoribbon-to-film strategy. Metal clusters are initially liquified into 1–2 nm droplets at 120 °C, and they then orchestrate the growth of amorphous single-layer nanoribbons, which eventually merge into a continuous centimetre-scale film. Phase-field simulations, combined with our character izations, suggest a non-equilibrium kinetic growth mechanism, which can be applicable to various films, for example, PtSex, IrSex, PdSex and RhSex. The synthesized films exhibit a range of unique properties, including tunable conductivity through disorder modulation, high work functions and remarkable catalytic activity, making them promising candidates for hole-injection contacts in p-type transistors and hydrogen production applications. This work opens a pathway for the synthesis of non-layered materials approaching the single-layer limit.

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