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  • Atomically thin half-van de...
    Briggs, Natalie; Bersch, Brian; Wang, Yuanxi; Jiang, Jue; Koch, Roland J; Nayir, Nadire; Wang, Ke; Kolmer, Marek; Ko, Wonhee; De La Fuente Duran, Ana; Subramanian, Shruti; Dong, Chengye; Shallenberger, Jeffrey; Fu, Mingming; Zou, Qiang; Chuang, Ya-Wen; Gai, Zheng; Li, An-Ping; Bostwick, Aaron; Jozwiak, Chris; Chang, Cui-Zu; Rotenberg, Eli; Zhu, Jun; van Duin, Adri C T; Crespi, Vincent; Robinson, Joshua A

    Nature materials, 06/2020, Volume: 19, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) metals may be key ingredients in next-generation quantum and optoelectronic devices. However, 2D metals must be stabilized against environmental degradation and integrated into heterostructure devices at the wafer scale. The high-energy interface between silicon carbide and epitaxial graphene provides an intriguing framework for stabilizing a diverse range of 2D metals. Here we demonstrate large-area, environmentally stable, single-crystal 2D gallium, indium and tin that are stabilized at the interface of epitaxial graphene and silicon carbide. The 2D metals are covalently bonded to SiC below but present a non-bonded interface to the graphene overlayer; that is, they are 'half van der Waals' metals with strong internal gradients in bonding character. These non-centrosymmetric 2D metals offer compelling opportunities for superconducting devices, topological phenomena and advanced optoelectronic properties. For example, the reported 2D Ga is a superconductor that combines six strongly coupled Ga-derived electron pockets with a large nearly free-electron Fermi surface that closely approaches the Dirac points of the graphene overlayer.