Two-dimensional materials are all surface, so any change in the surface chemistry affects the entire material. This offers a challenge and an opportunity to engineering the material properties and new device behavior. There are many strategies to altering the chemical structure of 2D materials, yet one of the most successful is the chemical functionalization with low energy plasmas such as hydrogen and fluorine. Functionalization enables phase changes within materials to dramatically alter their properties, can be applied post synthesis and device fabrication, and is compatible with lithography for spatial patterning. Most studies of chemical functionalization focus on single functionalization of single 2D materials, yet there are many opportunities when applying the principles of chemical functionalization to spatially engineer the properties though in plane interfaces or out of plane in heterostructures.

First, we will examine selective etching with XeF₂ to pattern heterostructures using graphene etch stops. These techniques are self-limiting, yet scalable, and enable the patterning of 2D heterostructures into 3D multilayer circuitry. Moreover, devices like encapsulated graphene transistors fabricated with these techniques have exceptionally low contact resistances and mobilities which approach theoretical limits.

Second we will present a new strategy for tailoring the stoichiometry of functionalized graphene compounds through the systematic control of the ratio between adatoms. We demonstrate new ternary HFG compounds and reversible switching of material stoichiometry via the sequential exposure of graphene to low energy H plasma and XeF₂ gas. By patterning regions of different functionalization on a single chip, we perform direct comparisons and show spatially controlled tuning of the relative surface properties such as wettability, friction, electronic conductivity and molecular adhesion. Taken together, these studies show that chemical functionalization offers new atomically precise nanofabrication and materials engineering techniques for scalable engineering of circuitry along all three dimensions.

One of the major challenges of van der Waals (vdW) integration of 2D materials is the high-yield and -throughput assembly of pre-defined sequence of monolayers into heterostructure arrays. Although a variety of techniques have been developed to exfoliate the 2D materials from the source and deterministically place them onto a target substrate, they typically can transfer only either a wafer-scale blanket or a small flake at a time with uncontrolled size and shape. Here we present a method to exfoliate arrays of lithographically defined monolayer MoS₂ and WS₂ features from multilayer sources and directly transfer them in a deterministic manner onto target substrates. The continuous exfoliate-align-release process, without the need of an intermediate carrier substrate, was enabled by a new transfer medium fabricated by spin-coating a low-crosslinked and transparent adhesive on a transparent, electrostatically active backing material with low surface energy. MoS₂/WS₂ vdW heterostructure arrays produced by this method were characterized, showing coupled photoluminescence between the monolayers. Light-emitting devices using WS₂ monolayer were also demonstrated, proving the functionality of the fabricated materials. This method promises to produce large-area monolayer and multiplex heterostructure arrays with capability to integrate with existing semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

2D materials exhibiting unique material properties have the potential for a huge impact on our future. Graphene, as the first discovered truly 2D material, has been extensively studied. However, the lack of an intrinsic band gap makes it inadequate for electronic and optical devices. MoS₂ from the family of transition metal dichalcogenides has been intensively investigated for its possibility to be used in future applications. The vision is to integrate various 2D materials to realise an actual device. However, the actual assembly of these materials with high controllability remains a challenge. Vertical heterostructures, supported by Van der Waals interactions, have already been realised by manually stacking 2D materials on top of each other[1]. An ultimate thin device can be realised by creating lateral heterostructures with atomically sharp interfaces where each material is directly bonded to another. Currently, methods for in-plane bonding of MoS₂ to other materials (e.g. graphene) are limited due to poor structural match. One possible solution is to develop selective bottom-up methods for synthesis of molecular nanostructures by self-assembly.

This study aim to investigate the fundamental nature of bonding of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) to the edges of MoS₂ nanoparticles by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The aim is to synthesise GNRs from precursor molecules through a thermally activated Ullmann reaction already used elsewhere[2,3]. After initial growth of MoS₂, it is necessary to anneal in a hydrogen atmosphere to activate the edges to facilitate the attachment of an intermediate structure of poly(para-phenylene) (PPP) wires. STM reveals the PPP wires have an affinity for the corners of the MoS₂ nanoparticles with a distance, obtained from line scans across the adsorption site, consistent with a covalent C-S bond.

[1]: Pant et al., Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 7, 3870-3887

[2]: Cai et al., Nature, 2010, 466, 7305, 470–473

[3]: Basagni et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137, 5, 1802-1808

The effects of two dimensional (2D) meso-/microporous structure and metal modification with gallium or zinc on catalytic performances of lamellar MFI zeolites in ethylene conversion reaction to liquid aromatics were investigated. Dual template technique was used to synthesize the 2D zeolite and metal modification of the zeolite was carried out by wet impregnation method. The results of multiple analysis techniques such as TEM, XRD, Ar adsorption-desorption, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and H₂-TPR showed that the zeolite structure is a pivotal factor for controlling the type of metal dopant species forming on zeolite, their size, and their distribution. Adding metal dopants to 2D zeolite structures improved the yield of liquid aromatics and selectivity for mono-benzene alkylated aromatics compared to their microporous commercial MFI analogies while decreased the coke formation rate. Zinc loaded lamellar MFI had the most efficient catalytic performance among all studied catalysts with lowest amount of total coke and highest fraction of light coke including mono-benzene alkylated aromatics determined by combination of different techniques such as FTIR, UV-Vis, MS-temperature programmed oxidation (TPO), FTIR-TPO, and GC-MS. This can be explained by higher accessibility of reactants to active sites and facilitated transport of products and coke precursors from lamellar structure of this zeolite and the lower Brønsted/Lewis acid site ratio of this catalyst provided by metal modification which is more suitable for ethylene aromatization and suppresses the formation of heavy coke species. The catalytic performance of zeolite catalyst can be tuned by modulating both the textural and acidity properties of the zeolite structure. The metal modified 2D lamellar MFI zeolites as bifunctional catalysts open an avenue for converting large reactant molecules to desired products by designing a catalyst with an optimal structure, acidity, and dispersion of metal dopants.

Recently, nano-scale graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) have attracted great attention as one of the promising materials for electronics and spintronics. Kim et al. have successfully fabricated GNFs with various sizes up to 35 nm and have reported that the photoluminescence property of GNFs depends on the size and the edge shape [1]. From the view point of the structural stability of GNFs, we have not yet acquired the systematic comprehension with regard to effects of shapes and sizes of GNFs on the stability. In the present study, we have examined how the stability of GNFs is dominated by the edge shape and the size of GNFs, using first-principles calculations within the density functional theory.

In order to evaluate the stability of GNFs, we calculated the edge formation energy. First, we consider GNFs with the six-fold symmetry (D_6h) and classify them into zigzag GNFs (ZZGNFs) and armchair GNFs (ACGNFs). ACGNFs have two subtypes, AC(1) and AC(2), depending on whether carbon atoms are just at the corner of the outermost envelope hexagon of GNFs. We define the edge purity as the ratio of the number of carbon atoms at the edge unambiguously regarded as the armchair to the total number of edge atoms. The purity of AC(1) is higher than that of AC(2). The chemical formulae associated with ZZ, AC(1), and AC(2) are C_6n²H_6n, C_18n²-18n+6H_12n-6, C_18n²-30n+12H_12n-12, respectively. In addition, we also evaluate the structural stabilities of triangular and rhombus GNFs.

We calculated the edge formation energy of the GNFs having up to 1200 carbon atoms as a function of the number of edge carbon atoms [3]. The formation energy of ZZGNFs is higher than that of ACGNFs irrespective of the size of GNFs. This instability of ZZGNFs is attributed to the presence of the so-called edge state. Indeed, it has also been shown that the formation energy of the zigzag graphene nanoribbon is higher than that of the armchair one [4]. It is noted that AC(2) is slightly more stable than AC(1), whereas the purity of AC(2) is lower than that of AC(1). Such peculiar stabilization can be reasonably explained in terms of the aromaticity of GNFs. The Nucleus Independent Chemical Shifts (NICS) values, which is averaged for the six-membered rings in GNFs, for AC(2) are lower than those for AC(1). This means AC(2) is more aromatic than AC(1). We will discuss the quantitative relationship between the stability and the aromaticity of GNFS.

[1] S. Kim et al., ACS Nano, 6, 9, 8203 (2012)

[2] W. Hu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 214704 (2014)

[3] A. Akaishi, M. Ushirozako, H.Matsuyama, andJ.Nakamura, Jpn.J.Appl.Phys. 57, 0102BA(2018)

[4] S. Okada. Phys. Rev. B, 77, 041408 (2008)

The current electronics industry has been completely dominated by Si-based devices due to its exceptionally low materials cost. However, demand for non-Si electronics is becoming substantially high because current/next generation electronics requires novel functionalities that can never be achieved by Si-based materials. Unfortunately, the extremely high cost of non-Si semiconductor materials prohibits the progress in this field. Recently our team has invented a new crystalline growth concept, termed as “remote epitaxy”, which can copy/paste crystalline information of the wafer remotely through graphene, thus generating single-crystalline films on graphene [1,2]. These single-crystalline films are easily released from the slippery graphene surface and the graphene-coated substrates can be infinitely reused to generate single-crystalline films. Thus, the remote epitaxy technique can cost-efficiently produce freestanding single-crystalline films including III-V, III-N, and complex oxides. This allows unprecedented functionality of flexible device functionality required for current ubiquitous electronics. I will also present detailed mechanism behind remote atomic interaction through graphene [2]. In addition, we have recently demonstrated a manufacturing method to manipulate wafer-scale 2D materials with atomic precision to form monolayer-by-monolayer stacks of wafer-scale 2D material heterostructures [3]. In this talk, I will discuss the implication of this new technology for revolutionary design of next generation electronic/photonic devices with combination of 3D/2D mixed heterostructures.

[1] Y. Kim, et al, and J. Kim, “Remote epitaxy through graphene enables two-dimensional material based layer transfer” Nature, Vol. 544, 340 (2017)

[2] W. Kong, et al, and J. Kim, “Polarity govern atomic interaction through two-dimensional materials”, Nature Materials, Vol. 17, 999 (2018)

[3] J. Shim, S. Bae, et al, and J. Kim, “Controlled crack propagation for atomic precision handling of wafer-scale two-dimensional materials” Science, 362, 665 (2018)