In-operando Metrology Assisted Exploration of Self-limiting Growth and Surface Chemistries Mechanisms of Atomically Thin Films

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While the catalogue of isolated 2D nanomaterials has been rapidly expanding, the scientific understanding of their crystal growth is lacking far behind and the focus has been almost exclusively on van-der-Waals (vdW) materials for which the natural phase is layered. This project aims to advance new crystal growth technology for vdW and non-vdW materials using in-operando metrology and to create new designer mono-layer crystals that can be exploited in a rich variety of applications. In-operando scanning electron microscopy will provide a versatile platform to capture for the first time such crystal growth at video rate over many length scales. Using select transition metal dichalcogenide and oxide material systems and process approaches ranging from liquid substrate and confined reaction schemes to combined growth and intercalation reactions, the project seeks to establish a new level of understanding of underlying nucleation, phase control and crystal growth at the mono-layer limit. The ability to synthesise free-standing crystal mono-layers particularly also from non-vdW materials such as oxides can be disruptive given their industrial importance and prevalence, and can harbour a plethora of new properties that are tunable not only via inter-doping and inter-alloying strategies but also via external fields and proximity phenomena.