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2D SUPERCONDUCTORS

Exfoliating large monolayers in liquids

Nature Materials volume 20, pages 130–131 (2021)Cite this article

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Two-dimensional superconductors have been produced via a mild intercalation-assisted, exfoliation approach, providing large-size, high-quality single layers with the ease and versatility of liquid-phase processing.

Many of the most exquisite properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials only occur in their monolayer form. This is notably true for transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) where single layers can break inversion symmetry, resulting in the valley degree of freedom and unconventional superconductivity1,2. Excitingly, the interplay between such exotic effects (and those that arise due to interfacial interactions) can be explored and controlled by creating devices from interleaved 2D sheets2,3,4. Such experiments require large-area, single-crystal samples with a low density of defects and clean interfaces between adjacent layers that can be readily manipulated into devices. However, for producing 2D materials a frustrating dichotomy exists. Methods that produce large, high-quality monolayers, such as mechanical exfoliation (the ‘Scotch tape method’) or chemical vapour deposition, are relatively painstaking and must typically be followed by intricate transfer methods for device fabrication. On the other hand, exfoliating layered crystals in liquids is cheaper, more scalable and has the built-in bonus that the resulting dispersions can be used to manipulate the nanosheets at high volume and low cost, for example, by inkjet printing5. But while these liquid-dispersed samples have flooded the marketplace, liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) typically requires chemically or physically aggressive methods, yielding materials that are not only too small and defective for devices, but only a few per cent of which are monolayers, compromising the treasured properties of 2D materials. Writing in Nature Materials, Jing Li and co-workers6 present an electrochemical exfoliation method that delivers the best attributes of these different production approaches, and expansively demonstrate both its effectiveness in producing high-quality 2D superconductor monolayers, and its versatility for use in different processing technologies.

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Fig. 1: Devices and structures from solutions of exfoliated 2D superconductors.

Adapted with permission from ref. 6, Springer Nature Ltd.

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  1. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, London, UK

    Christopher A. Howard

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  1. Christopher A. Howard
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Correspondence to Christopher A. Howard.

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Howard, C.A. Exfoliating large monolayers in liquids. Nat. Mater. 20, 130–131 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00907-y

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