A new method called vdW squeezing enables the creation of stable, atomically thin 2D metals, opening doors to advanced devices and fundamental discoveries in materials science.
Since the discovery of graphene in 2004, research into two-dimensional (2D) materials has advanced rapidly, opening new frontiers in both fundamental science and technological development. While nearly 2,000 2D materials have been theoretically predicted and hundreds successfully synthesized in laboratories, the vast majority are limited to van der Waals (vdW) layered crystals.
A major goal in the field has been the development of atomically thin 2D metals, which would significantly broaden the scope of 2D materials beyond vdW structures. These ultrathin metals could also unlock new physical phenomena and enable novel device architectures. Despite considerable effort in recent years, producing large-area, high-quality 2D metals at the atomic scale has remained a major challenge.
Now, however, researchers from the Institute of Physics (IOP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a convenient, universal, atomic-level manufacturing technique—called vdW squeezing—for the production of 2D metals at the angstrom thickness limit. This study was recently published in Nature.
The manufacturing technique involves melting and squeezing pure metals between two rigid vdW anvils under high pressure. With this method, the researchers produced diverse atomically thin 2D metals, including Bi (~6.3 Å), Sn (~5.8 Å), Pb (~7.5 Å), In (~8.4 Å) and Ga (~9.2 Å).
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