Two-dimensional crystals have emerged as a class of materials that may impact future electronic technologies. Experimentally identifying and characterizing new functional two-dimensional materials is challenging, but also potentially rewarding. Here, we fabricate field-effect transistors based on few-layer black phosphorus crystals with thickness down to a few nanometres. Reliable transistor performance is achieved at room temperature in samples thinner than 7.5 nm, with drain current modulation on the order of 10(5) and well-developed current saturation in the I-V characteristics. The charge-carrier mobility is found to be thickness-dependent, with the highest values up to ∼ 1,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) obtained for a thickness of ∼ 10 nm. Our results demonstrate the potential of black phosphorus thin crystals as a new two-dimensional material for applications in nanoelectronic devices.

http://absimage.aps.org/image/MAR14/MWS_MAR14-2013-005031.pdf

Black Phosphorus Field-effect Transistors

We report the implementation of field effect transistors based on exfoliated nano-membranes of a layered two-dimensional semiconductor SnS(2), which exhibit an on/off ratio exceeding 2 × 10(6) and a carrier mobility of ∼1 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). The results demonstrate the great potential of SnS(2), a layered semiconductor with finite band gap, as the building block for future nanoelectronic applications complementary to graphene-based materials with zero or small band gaps.

http://absimage.aps.org/image/MAR13/MWS_MAR13-2012-003199.pdf

High on/off ratio field effect transistor based on exfoliated crystalline SnS$_{2}$ nano-membrane

Solid lubricants are described as solid materials of intentionally introduced or in situ formed on contact surfaces in relative motion for the purpose of lowering friction and wear and providing protection from damage. Solid lubricants and advanced self-lubricating materials are widely used in modern industries, especially in aerospace, aviation, automotive, metallurgy, materials forming, and machining industries, and have attracted great interest in lubrication applications under very severe circumstances such as elevated temperatures, heavy loads, ultrahigh vacuum, extreme radiation, strong oxidation, and chemical reactivity environments. Many efforts have been made to develop self-lubricating composites by a variety of material preparation techniques, which include powder metallurgy, physical/chemical vapor depositions, thermal spraying, electrodeposition, laser cladding, and additive manufacturing. Although several reviews on the development of high-temperature solid lubricants have been published, most of them only focus on a type of material, a specific process, or application. In this paper, a comprehensive review is provided to present the state-of-the-art progress in solid lubricants, self-lubricating composites/coatings, and their effective functions that can be used over a wide variety of environmental conditions, especially at elevated temperatures. The solid lubricants considered include representative soft metals, layered structure materials (e.g., graphite, hexagonal boron nitride, transition metallic dichalcogenides, MAX phase), chemically stable fluorides, binary or ternary metallic oxides, especially alkaline earth chromates, and sulfates, and synergistic effects from these solid lubricants. This paper also provides new insights into design considerations of environmental adaptive solid lubrication, and the challenges and potential breakthroughs are further highlighted for high-temperature solid lubrication applications.

/pdf/high-temperature-solid-lubricants-and-self-lubricating-kf9btnsx.pdf

High-Temperature Solid Lubricants and Self-Lubricating Composites: A Critical Review

The degree of thermal anisotropy affects critically key device-relevant properties of layered two-dimensional materials. Here, we systematically study the in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivity of crystalline SnSe2 films of varying thickness (16-190 nm) and uncover a thickness-independent thermal conductivity anisotropy ratio of about ∼8.4. Experimental data obtained using Raman thermometry and frequency domain thermoreflectance showed that the in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivities monotonically decrease by a factor of 2.5 with decreasing film thickness compared to the bulk values. Moreover, we find that the temperature-dependence of the in-plane component gradually decreases as the film becomes thinner, and in the range from 300 to 473 K it drops by more than a factor of 2. Using the mean free path reconstruction method, we found that phonons with MFP ranging from ∼1 to 53 and from 1 to 30 nm contribute to 50% of the total in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivity, respectively.

Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity of Crystalline Layered SnSe2.

We report the ultrafast carrier dynamics of an SnSe2–SnSe composite thin film (∼150 nm thick) deposited using thermal evaporation of in-house synthesized SnSe2 powder. Raman and UV–visible spectroscopy supports the optical properties (direct and indirect bandgaps of 1.86 eV and 0.96 eV, respectively). Ultrafast transient spectroscopy is used to study the charge excited state dynamics in the SnSe2–SnSe composite thin film in the femtosecond to nanosecond interval. An energy model has been proposed based on the ultrafast transient absorption and the thin film's steady-state absorption studies. This article provides comprehensive knowledge about the excited carriers and their relaxations in 0.9 ps–31.1 ns via different trap states.

Ultrafast excited-state dynamics of SnSe2–SnSe composite thin film

Angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy (ARPRS) is widely used to determine the crystal orientations of anisotropic layered materials (ALMs), which is an essential step to study all of their anisotropic properties. However, the understanding of the ARPRS response of black phosphorous (BP) as a most widely studied ALM is still unsatisfactory. Here, we clarify two key controversies about the physical origin of the intricate ARPRS response and the determination of crystal orientations in BP. Through systematic ARPRS measurements, we show that the degree of anisotropy of the response evolves gradually and periodically with the BP thickness, eventually leading to the intricate response. Meanwhile, we find that using the Raman peak intensity ratio of the two Ag phonon modes, the crystal orientations of BP can be unambiguously distinguished via a concise inequality . Comprehensive analysis and first-principles calculations reveal that the external anisotropic interference effect and the intrinsic electron-phonon coupling are responsible for the observations.

Unambiguous determination of crystal orientation in black phosphorus by angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy.

Tin diselenide (SnSe2) as a two-dimensional semiconductor material shows great potential in nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics, and thermoelectric applications; however, much is unclear about i...

Xu Zhang

Papers

Unambiguous determination of crystal orientation in black phosphorus by angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy.

Thickness-Dependent Ultralow In-Plane Thermal Conductivity of Chemical Vapor-Deposited SnSe2 Nanofilms: Implications for Thermoelectrics

Surface modification on copper particles toward graphene reinforced copper matrix composites for electrical engineering application

Thermal conductivity of exfoliated and chemical vapor deposition-grown tin disulfide nanofilms: role of grain boundary conductance