An emerging quaternary semiconductor nanoribbon with gate-tunable anisotropic conductance.

Two-dimensional noble transition metal chalcogenide (NTMC) semiconductors represent compelling building blocks for fabricating flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices. While binary and ternary compounds have been reported, the existence of quaternary NTMCs with a greater elemental degree of freedom remains largely unexplored. This study presents the pioneering experimental realization of a novel semiconducting quaternary NTMC material, AuPdNaS2, synthesized directly on Au foils through chemical vapor deposition. The ribbon-shaped morphology of the AuPdNaS2 crystal can be finely tuned to a thickness as low as 9.2 nm. Scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the atomic arrangement, showcasing robust anisotropic features; thus, AuPdNaS2 exhibits distinct anisotropic phonon vibrations and electrical properties. The field-effect transistor constructed from AuPdNaS2 crystal demonstrates a pronounced anisotropic conductance (σmax/σmin = 3.20) under gate voltage control. This investigation significantly expands the repertoire of NTMC materials and underscores the potential applications of AuPdNaS2 in nano-electronic devices.

Intrinsic Grain Boundary Structure and Enhanced Defect States in Air-Sensitive Polycrystalline 1T'-WTe2 Monolayer.

Monolayer WTe2 has attracted significant attention for its unconventional superconductivity and topological edge states. However, its air sensitivity poses challenges for studying intrinsic defect structures. This study addresses this issue using a custom-built inert gas interconnected system, and investigate the intrinsic grain boundary (GB) structures of monolayer polycrystalline 1T' WTe2 grown by nucleation-controlled chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. These findings reveal that GBs in this system are predominantly governed by W-Te rhombi with saturated coordination, resulting in three specific GB prototypes without dislocation cores. The GBs exhibit anisotropic orientations influenced by kinks formed from these fundamental units, which in turn affect the distribution of grains in various shapes within polycrystalline flakes. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) analysis further reveals metallic states along the intrinsic 120° twin grain boundary (TGB), consistent with computed band structures. This systematic exploration of GBs in air-sensitive 1T' WTe2 monolayers provides valuable insights into emerging GB-related phenomena.

Dual-metal precursors for the universal growth of non-layered 2D transition metal chalcogenides with ordered cation vacancies.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) are promising for nanoelectronics and energy applications. Among them, the emerging non-layered TMCs are unique due to their unsaturated dangling bonds on the surface and strong intralayer and interlayer bonding. However, the synthesis of non-layered 2D TMCs is challenging and this has made it difficult to study their structures and properties at thin thickness limit. Here, we develop a universal dual-metal precursors method to grow non-layered TMCs in which a mixture of a metal and its chloride serves as the metal source. Taking hexagonal Fe1-xS as an example, the thickness of the Fe1-xS flakes is down to 3 nm with a lateral size of over 100 µm. Importantly, we find ordered cation Fe vacancies in Fe1-xS, which is distinct from layered TMCs like MoS2 where anion vacancies are commonly observed. Low-temperature transport measurements and theoretical calculations show that 2D Fe1-xS is a stable semiconductor with a narrow bandgap of ∼60 meV. In addition to Fe1-xS, the method is universal in growing various non-layered 2D TMCs containing ordered cation vacancies, including Fe1-xSe, Co1-xS, Cr1-xS, and V1-xS. This work paves the way to grow and exploit properties of non-layered materials at 2D thickness limit.