Molybdenum Ditelluride Nanosheet Phase Selectivity

Molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂) is a currently popular transition dichalcogenide because of its heterogeneous nature, including metallic, semiconductor, and topological states. Many research groups are currently focusing on the synthesis of molybdenum ditelluride nanosheet to facilitate its use for device integration in modern electronics applications.

(Image Credit: MZinchenko/Shutterstock.com)

A recent study published in Advanced Materials Interfaces focuses on the large-scale synthesis of molybdenum ditelluride nanosheets using simulation-guided chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have gained a lot of attention in 2D materials due to their extraordinary properties. In contrast to other TMDs, molybdenum ditelluride has attracted great attention due to its tunable amorphous phases, especially the conductive 1T' and semi-conductive 2H phases.

The 1T' phase, possessing an orthorhombic composition, is a precursor step to obtain significant topological features and is of particular interest as a host for atomic spin Hall phenomena in single and multilayer nanosheets. On the other hand, 2H-MoTe₂ holds an important promise as a two-dimensional layered material in nanoelectronics due to its tiny band gap, good absorption, and low thermal conductivity.

Therefore, MoTe₂ is considered to be an outstanding design material for studying phase change characteristics with various relevant applications, such as two-dimensional nonvolatile storage devices. This is due to the small energy change between the two aforementioned amorphous phases of MoTe₂ nanosheets.

(Image Credit: Tummala, P. P. et al., Advanced Materials Interfaces)

In addition, MoTe₂ is a promising option for applications such as field-effect devices, microelectronics, and energy storage due to its ultra-high mobility, optical transmittance, thin structure, and chemical resistance.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for the production of molybdenum ditelluride nanosheet. Mechanical grinding, chemical emulsification, and physical vapor formation are commonly used to fabricate several layers of TMD such as MoTe₂. However, these methods have significant drawbacks due to their inaccurate phase control, roughness, unpredictable distribution, and inhomogeneity.

Source: https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=39878

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