6533b7d3fe1ef96bd1260b7c
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Exfoliation of Alpha-Germanium: A Covalent Diamond-Like Structure
Pablo AresPablo AresJulio Gómez-herreroWendel S. PazMaria VarelaMhamed AssebbanMhamed AssebbanFélix ZamoraQuentin M. RamasseElena SalagreDavid Rodríguez-san-miguelGonzalo AbellánGonzalo AbellánEnrique G. MichelDavid Hernández-maldonadoIñigo TorresCarlos GibajaP. SegoviaJuan Jose Palaciossubject
Materials scienceFabricationGram-scale preparationchemistry.chemical_elementGermaniumNanotechnology02 engineering and technologyengineering.material010402 general chemistry01 natural sciencesAlpha-germanium nanolayersTechnological impactGeneral Materials ScienceBandgap modulationMaterialsbusiness.industryMechanical EngineeringDiamondQuímica021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology2D materialsExfoliation joint0104 chemical sciencesSemiconductorLiquid-phase exfoliationchemistryMechanics of MaterialsCovalent bondengineeringNanometre0210 nano-technologybusinessdescription
2D materials have opened a new field in materials science with outstanding scientific and technological impact. A largely explored route for the preparation of 2D materials is the exfoliation of layered crystals with weak forces between their layers. However, its application to covalent crystals remains elusive. Herein, a further step is taken by introducing the exfoliation of germanium, a narrow-bandgap semiconductor presenting a 3D diamond-like structure with strong covalent bonds. Pure α-germanium is exfoliated following a simple one-step procedure assisted by wet ball-milling, allowing gram-scale fabrication of high-quality layers with large lateral dimensions and nanometer thicknesses. The generated flakes are thoroughly characterized by different techniques, giving evidence that the new 2D material exhibits bandgaps that depend on both the crystallographic direction and the number of layers. Besides potential technological applications, this work is also of interest for the search of 2D materials with new properties
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-02-04 |