Fermi level depinning via insertion of a graphene buffer layer at the gold-2D tin monoxide contact
arXiv2023-08-30
Two-dimensional (2D) tin monoxide (SnO) has attracted much attention owing to its distinctive electronic and optical properties, which render itself suitable as a channel material in field effect transistors (FETs). However, upon contact with metals for such applications, the Fermi level pinning effect may occur, where states are induced in its band gap by the metal, hindering its intrinsic semiconducting properties. We propose the insertion of graphene at the contact interface to alleviate the metal-induced gap states. By using gold (Au) as the electrode material and monolayer SnO (mSnO) as the channel material, the geometry, bonding strength, charge transfer and tunnel barriers of charges, and electronic properties including the work function, band structure, density of states, and Schottky barriers are thoroughly investigated using first-principles calculations for the structures with and without graphene to reveal the contact behaviours and Fermi level depinning mechanism. It has been demonstrated that strong covalent bonding is formed between gold and mSnO, while the graphene interlayer forms weak van der Waals interaction with both materials, which minimises the perturbance t
The 2D Materials Roadmap
arXiv2025-03-28
Over the past two decades, 2D materials have rapidly evolved into a diverse and expanding family of material platforms. Many members of this materials class have demonstrated their potential to deliver transformative impact on fundamental research and technological applications across different fields. In this roadmap, we provide an overview of the key aspects of 2D material research and development, spanning synthesis, properties and commercial applications. We specifically present roadmaps for high impact 2D materials, including graphene and its derivatives, transition metal dichalcogenides, MXenes as well as their heterostructures and moiré systems. The discussions are organized into thematic sections covering emerging research areas (e.g., twisted electronics, moiré nano-optoelectronics, polaritronics, quantum photonics, and neuromorphic computing), breakthrough applications in key technologies (e.g., 2D transistors, energy storage, electrocatalysis, filtration and separation, thermal management, flexible electronics, sensing, electromagnetic interference shielding, and composites) and other important topics (computational discovery of novel materials, commercialization and sta
Electric Field Effect in Multilayer Cr2Ge2Te6: a Ferromagnetic Two-Dimensional Material
arXiv2017-04-28
The emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials has attracted a great deal of attention due to their fascinating physical properties and potential applications for future nanoelectronic devices. Since the first isolation of graphene, a Dirac material, a large family of new functional 2D materials have been discovered and characterized, including insulating 2D boron nitride, semiconducting 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus, and superconducting 2D bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, molybdenum disulphide and niobium selenide, etc. Here, we report the identification of ferromagnetic thin flakes of Cr2Ge2Te6 (CGT) with thickness down to a few nanometers, which provides a very important piece to the van der Waals structures consisting of various 2D materials. We further demonstrate the giant modulation of the channel resistance of 2D CGT devices via electric field effect. Our results illustrate the gate voltage tunability of 2D CGT and the potential of CGT, a ferromagnetic 2D material, as a new functional quantum material for applications in future nanoelectronics and spintronics.
Valleytronics in 2D Materials Roadmap
arXiv2026-03-02
Valleytronics exploits non-equivalent energy extrema in the electronic band structure of crystalline solids -- the valley degree of freedom -- to encode, manipulate, and read out information. The advent of 2D materials, first graphene and then transition-metal dichalcogenides, made valley control practical through optical, electrical, and magnetic routes. This foundation has enabled remarkable progress in recent years spanning established frontiers, such as valley exciton physics and valley Hall effects, as well as emerging directions including lightwave valleytronics, nanophotonic integration, flat-band valleytronics, and spin-valley qubits. In parallel, there are sustained efforts to scale up valleytronic materials and to predict new valleytronic platforms. This Roadmap brings together perspectives from leading experts to chart the key opportunities and challenges at the forefront of 2D material valleytronics. Each section captures a snapshot of progress in a key research area, identifies critical open challenges, and outlines pathways toward future valleytronics breakthroughs.
Roadmap: 2D Materials for Quantum Technologies
arXiv2025-12-16
Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as a versatile and powerful platform for quantum technologies, offering atomic-scale control, strong quantum confinement, and seamless integration into heterogeneous device architectures. Their reduced dimensionality enables unique quantum phenomena, including optically addressable spin defects, tunable single-photon emitters, low-dimensional magnetism, gate-controlled superconductivity, and correlated states in Moiré superlattices. This Roadmap provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress and future directions in exploiting 2D materials for quantum sensing, computation, communication, and simulation. We survey advances spanning spin defects and quantum sensing, quantum emitters and nonlinear photonics, computational theory and data-driven discovery of quantum defects, spintronic and magnonic devices, cavity-engineered quantum materials, superconducting and hybrid quantum circuits, quantum dots, Moiré quantum simulators, and quantum communication platforms. Across these themes, we identify common challenges in defect control, coherence preservation, interfacial engineering, and scalable integration, alongside emerging opportunitie
Magnetic Anisotropy in Two-dimensional van der Waals Magnetic Materials and Their Heterostructures: Importance, Mechanisms, and Opportunities
arXiv2025-08-07
Two-dimensional (2D) magnetism in atomically thin van der Waals (vdW) monolayers and heterostructures has attracted significant attention due to its promising potential for next-generation spintronic and quantum technologies. A key factor in stabilizing long-range magnetic order in these systems is magnetic anisotropy, which plays a crucial role in overcoming the limitations imposed by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. This review provides a comprehensive theoretical and experimental overview of the importance of magnetic anisotropy in enabling intrinsic 2D magnetism and shaping the electronic, magnetic, and topological properties of 2D vdW materials. We begin by summarizing the fundamental mechanisms that determine magnetic anisotropy, emphasizing the contributions from strong ligand spin-orbit coupling of ligand atoms and unquenched orbital magnetic moments. We then examine a range of material engineering approaches, including alloying, doping, electrostatic gating, strain, and pressure, that have been employed to effectively tune magnetic anisotropy in these materials. Finally, we discuss open challenges and promising future directions in this rapidly advancing field. By presenting a b
Beyond Graphene: Low-Symmetry and Anisotropic 2D Materials
arXiv2020-09-24
Low-symmetry 2D materials---such as ReS$_2$ and ReSe$_2$ monolayers, black phosphorus monolayers, group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers, borophene, among others---have more complex atomistic structures than the honeycomb lattices of graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and transition metal dichalcogenides. The reduced symmetries of these emerging materials give rise to inhomogeneous electron, optical, valley, and spin responses, as well as entirely new properties such as ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity, magnetism, spin-wave phenomena, large nonlinear optical properties, photogalvanic effects, and superconductivity. Novel electronic topological properties, nonlinear elastic properties, and structural phase transformations can also take place due to low symmetry. The "Beyond Graphene: Low-Symmetry and Anisotropic 2D Materials" Special Topic was assembled to highlight recent experimental and theoretical research on these emerging materials.
Fully dry PMMA transfer of graphene on h-BN using a heating/cooling system
arXiv2015-11-23
The key to achieve high-quality van der Waals heterostructure devices made of stacking various two-dimensional (2D) layered materials lies in the clean interface without bubbles and wrinkles. Although polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is generally used as a sacrificial transfer film due to its strong adhesion property, it is always dissolved in the solvent after the transfer, resulting in the unavoidable PMMA residue on the top surface. This makes it difficult to locate clean interface areas. In this work, we present a fully dry PMMA transfer of graphene onto h-BN using a heating/cooling system which allows identification of clean interface area for high quality graphene/h-BN heterostructure fabrication. The mechanism lies in the utilization of the large difference in thermal expansion coefficients between polymers (PMMA/PDMS) and inorganic materials (graphene/h-BN substrate) to mechanically peel off PMMA from graphene by the thermal shrinkage of polymers, leaving no PMMA residue on the graphene surface. This method can be applied to all types of 2D layered materials.
2D Theoretically Twistable Material Database
arXiv2024-11-14
The study of twisted two-dimensional (2D) materials, where twisting layers create moiré superlattices, has opened new opportunities for investigating topological phases and strongly correlated physics. While systems such as twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) and twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been extensively studied, the broader potential of a seemingly infinite set of other twistable 2D materials remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we define "theoretically twistable materials" as single- or multi-layer structures that allow for the construction of simple continuum models of their moiré structures. This excludes, for example, materials with a "spaghetti" of bands or those with numerous crossing points at the Fermi level, for which theoretical moiré modeling is unfeasible. We present a high-throughput algorithm that systematically searches for theoretically twistable semimetals and insulators based on the Topological 2D Materials Database. By analyzing key electronic properties, we identify thousands of new candidate materials that could host rich topological and strongly correlated phenomena when twisted. We propose representative twistable materials for r
High throughput computational screening for 2D ferromagnetic materials: the critical role of anisotropy and local correlations
arXiv2019-03-27
The recent observation of ferromagnetic order in two-dimensional (2D) materials has initiated a booming interest in the subject of 2D magnetism. In contrast to bulk materials, 2D materials can only exhibit magnetic order in the presence of magnetic anisotropy. In the present work we have used the Computational 2D Materials Database (C2DB) to search for new ferromagnetic 2D materials using the spinwave gap as a simple descriptor that accounts for the role of magnetic anisotropy. In addition to known compounds we find 12 novel insulating materials that exhibit magnetic order at finite temperatures. For these we evaluate the critical temperatures from classical Monte Carlo simulations of a Heisenberg model with exchange and anisotropy parameters obtained from first principles. Starting from 150 stable ferromagnetic 2D materials we find five candidates that are predicted to have critical temperatures exceeding that of CrI3. We also study the effect of Hubbard corrections in the framework of DFT+U and find that the value of U can have a crucial influence on the prediction of magnetic properties. Our work provides new insight into 2D magnetism and identifies a new set of promising monola
Transport in two-dimensional topological materials: recent developments in experiment and theory
arXiv2019-07-23
We review theoretical and experimental highlights in transport in two-dimensional materials focussing on key developments over the last five years. Topological insulators are finding applications in magnetic devices, while Hall transport in doped samples and the general issue of topological protection remain controversial. In transition metal dichalcogenides valley-dependent electrical and optical phenomena continue to stimulate state-of-the-art experiments. In Weyl semimetals the properties of Fermi arcs are being actively investigated. A new field, expected to grow in the near future, focuses on the non-linear electrical and optical responses of topological materials, where fundamental questions are once more being asked about the intertwining roles of the Berry curvature and disorder scattering. In topological superconductors the quest for chiral superconductivity, Majorana fermions and topological quantum computing is continuing apace.
Spatial conductivity mapping of unprotected and capped black phosphorus using microwave microscopy
arXiv2016-03-08
Thin layers of black phosphorus present an ideal combination of a 2D material with a tunable direct bandgap and high carrier mobility. However the material suffers from degradation in ambient conditions due to an oxidation reaction which involves water, oxygen and light. We have measured the spatial profile of the conductivity on flakes of black phosphorus as a function of time using scanning microwave impedance microscopy. A microwave excitation (3 GHz) allows to image a conducting sample even when covered with a dielectric layer. We observe that on bare black phosphorus, the conductivity changes drastically over the whole surface within a day. We demonstrate that the degradation process is slowed down considerably by covering the material with a 10 nm layer of hafnium oxide. It is stable for more than a week, opening up a route towards stable black phosphorus devices in which the high dielectric constant of hafnium oxide can be exploited. Covering black phosphorus with a 15 nm boron nitride flake changes the degradation process qualitatively, it is dominated by the edges of the flake indicating a diffusive process and happens on the scale of days.
Anisotropic features in the electronic structure of the two-dimensional transition metal trichalcogenide TiS$_3$: electron doping and plasmons
arXiv2017-04-19
Analysis of the band structure of TiS$_3$ single-layers suggests the possibility of changing their physical behaviour by injecting electron carriers. The anisotropy of the valence and conduction bands is explained in terms of their complex orbital composition. The nature of the Fermi surface and Lindhard response function for different doping concentrations is studied by means of first-principles DFT calculations. It is suggested that for electron doping levels $x$ (number of electrons per unit cell) $\sim$ 0.18-0.30$e^-$ the system could exhibit incommensurate charge or spin modulations which, however, would keep the metallic state whereas systems doped with smaller $x$ would be 2D metals without any electronic instability. The effect of spin-orbit coupling in the band dispersion is analysed. The DFT effective masses are used to study the plasmon spectrum from an effective low energy model. We find that this material supports highly anisotropic plasmons, with opposite anisotropy for the electron and hole bands.
Absorption $\textit{versus}$ Adsorption: High-Throughput Computation of Impurities in 2D Materials
arXiv2022-07-12
Doping of a two-dimensional (2D) material by impurity atoms occurs \textit{via} two distinct mechanisms: absorption of the dopants by the 2D crystal or adsorption on its surface. To distinguish the relevant mechanism, we systematically dope 53 experimentally synthesized 2D monolayers by 65 different chemical elements in both absorption and adsorption sites. The resulting 17,598 doped monolayer structures were generated using the newly developed ASE \texttt{DefectBuilder} -- a Python tool to set up point defects in 2D and bulk materials -- and subsequently relaxed by an automated high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) workflow. We find that interstitial positions are preferred for small dopants with partially filled valence electrons in host materials with large lattice parameters. On the contrary, adatoms are favored for dopants with a low number of valence electrons due to lower coordination of adsorption sites compared to interstitials. The relaxed structures, characterization parameters, defect formation energies, and magnetic moments (spins) are available in an open database to help advance our understanding of defects in 2D materials.
Unveiling the complex structure-property correlation of defects in 2D materials based on high throughput datasets
arXiv2022-12-05
Modification of physical properties of materials and design of materials with on-demand characteristics is at the heart of modern technology. Rare application relies on pure materials--most devices and technologies require careful design of materials properties through alloying, creating heterostructures of composites or controllable introduction of defects. At the same time, such designer materials are notoriously difficult for modelling. Thus, it is very tempting to apply machine learning methods for such systems. Unfortunately, there is only a handful of machine learning-friendly material databases available these days. We develop a platform for easy implementation of machine learning techniques to materials design and populate it with datasets on pristine and defected materials. Here we describe datasets of defects in represented 2D materials such as MoS2, WSe2, hBN, GaSe, InSe, and black phosphorous, calculated using DFT. Our study provides a data-driven physical understanding of complex behaviors of defect properties in 2D materials, holding promise for a guide to the development of efficient machine learning models. In addition, with the increasing enrollment of datasets, ou
A comment on "The Computational 2D Materials Database: high-throughput modeling and discovery of atomically thin crystals"
arXiv2018-12-13
Recently, Sten Haastrup, Mikkel Strange, Mohnish Pandey, Thorsten Deilmann, Per S Schmidt, Nicki F Hinsche, Morten N Gjerding, Daniele Torelli, Peter M Larsen, Anders C Riis-Jensen, Jakob Gath, Karsten W Jacobsen, Jens Jrgen Mortensen, Thomas Olsen and Kristian S Thygesen [2D Mater. 5 (2018) 042002] introduced the Computational 2D Materials Database (C2DB), which organises a variety of structural, thermodynamic, elastic, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of around 1500 two-dimensional materials distributed over more than 30 different crystal structures. Unfortunately, the work contains serious and fundamental flaws in the field of elasticity and mechanical stability tests what makes it unreliable.
Thin-suspended 2D Materials: Facile, Versatile, and Deterministic Transfer Assembly
arXiv2020-11-28
We report a deterministic 2D material (2DM) transfer method to assemble any-stacking-order heterostructures incorporating suspended ultra-thin 2D materials, such as single-layer graphene (SLG) and bilayer graphene (BLG). The transfer procedure relies on a single-step preparation nitrocellulose micro-stamp, which combines both outstanding adhesion and softness. It permits the dry pick-up of naked 2D crystals (graphene, MoS$_2$, and hBN) directly from a SiO$_2$ substrate, and to precisely transfer them on substrates or trenches. Optical and Raman data show that no significant defect is introduced upon transfer, even in suspended SLG and BLG. The areas transferred range up $\sim$ 1000 $μ$m$^2$ on substrate. High-yield transfer of suspended ultra-thin 2DM does not require critical point drying for areas up to 15 $μ$m$^2$ or suspension heights down to 160 nm. To demonstrate the method's capabilities, we assembled on-substrate and suspended optical cavities tuning BLG's Raman scattering intensity by factors of 19 and 4, respectively. This resilient and rapid 2DM transfer procedure will accelerate the fabrication of many heterostructures and permit versatile suspension of 2DMs for researc
Excitonic effects in the optical properties of 2D materials: An equation of motion approach
arXiv2017-04-04
We present a unified description of the excitonic properties of four monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC's) using an equation of motion method for deriving the Bethe-Salpeter equation in momentum space. Our method is able to cope with both continuous and tight-binding Hamiltonians, and is less computational demanding than the traditional first-principles approach. We show that the role of the exchange energy is essential to obtain a good description of the binding energy of the excitons. The exchange energy at the $Γ-$point is also essential to obtain the correct position of the C-exciton peak. Using our model we obtain a good agreement between the Rydberg series measured for WS$_2$. We discuss how the absorption and the Rydberg series depend on the doping. Choosing $r_0$ and the doping we obtain a good qualitative agreement between the experimental absorption and our calculations for WS$_2$. We also derive a semi-analytical version of Ellitot's formula for TMDC's.
Sub-Nanometer Channels Embedded in Two-Dimensional Materials
arXiv2017-07-31
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most promising candidates for next-generation electronics due to their atomic thinness, allowing for flexible transparent electronics and ultimate length scaling. Thus far, atomically-thin p-n junctions, metal-semiconductor contacts, and metal-insulator barriers have been demonstrated. While 2D materials achieve the thinnest possible devices, precise nanoscale control over the lateral dimensions is also necessary. Here, we report the direct synthesis of sub-nanometer-wide 1D MoS2 channels embedded within WSe2 monolayers, using a dislocation-catalyzed approach. The 1D channels have edges free of misfit dislocations and dangling bonds, forming a coherent interface with the embedding 2D matrix. Periodic dislocation arrays produce 2D superlattices of coherent MoS2 1D channels in WSe2. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we have identified other combinations of 2D materials where 1D channels can also be formed. The electronic band structure of these 1D channels offer the promise of carrier confinement in a direct-gap material and charge separation needed to access the ultimate length scales necessary for future electronic applications.
The Computational 2D Materials Database: High-Throughput Modeling and Discovery of Atomically Thin Crystals
arXiv2018-06-08
We introduce the Computational 2D Materials Database (C2DB), which organises a variety of structural, thermodynamic, elastic, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of around 1500 two-dimensional materials distributed over more than 30 different crystal structures. Material properties are systematically calculated by state-of-the art density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory (G$_0\!$W$\!_0$ and the Bethe-Salpeter Equation for $\sim$200 materials) following a semi-automated workflow for maximal consistency and transparency. The C2DB is fully open and can be browsed online or downloaded in its entirety. In this paper, we describe the workflow behind the database, present an overview of the properties and materials currently available, and explore trends and correlations in the data. Moreover, we identify a large number of new potentially synthesisable 2D materials with interesting properties targeting applications within spintronics, (opto-)electronics, and plasmonics. The C2DB offers a comprehensive and easily accessible overview of the rapidly expanding family of 2D materials and forms an ideal platform for computational modeling and design of new 2D materia