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

虽然孤立的二维纳米材料的目录已经迅速扩大，但对其晶体生长的科学了解远远落后，焦点几乎完全集中在自然相为层状结构的范德华(VDW)材料上。该项目旨在利用术中计量学，为VDW和非VDW材料推进新的晶体生长技术，并创造可在丰富的各种应用中开发的新的设计者单层晶体。手术中扫描电子显微镜将提供一个通用的平台，首次在许多长度尺度上以视频速率捕获这种晶体生长。该项目使用精选的过渡金属二卤化物和氧化物材料系统以及从液体衬底和受限反应方案到组合生长和插层反应的工艺方法，试图建立一个新的水平，以了解潜在的成核、相控制和单层限制下的晶体生长。鉴于氧化物等非VDW材料的工业重要性和普及性，特别是从氧化物等非VDW材料合成独立晶体单层的能力可能会产生颠覆性，并且可能包含过多的新性质，这些新性质不仅可以通过相互掺杂和合金间掺杂策略进行调节，还可以通过外场和邻近现象进行调节。

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.