After the recent finding that CrI 3 , displays ferromagnetic order down to its monolayer, extensive studies have followed to pursue new two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials. In this article, we report on the growth of single crystal CrCl 3 in the layered monoclinic phase. The system after mechanical exfoliation exhibits stability in ambient air (the degradation occurs on a time scale at least four orders of magnitude longer than is observed for CrI 3 ). By means of mechanical cleavage and atomic force microscopy (AFM) combined with optical identification, we demonstrate the systematic isolation of single and few layer flakes onto 270 nm and 285 nm SiO 2 /Si (100) substrates with lateral size larger than graphene flakes isolated with the same method. The layer number identification has been carried with statistically significant data, quantifying the optical contrast as a function of the number of layers for up to six layers. Layer dependent optical contrast data have been fitted within the Fresnel equation formalism determining the real and imaginary part of the wavelength dependent refractive index of the material. A layer dependent (532 nm) micro-Raman study has been carried out down to two layers with no detectable spectral shifts as a function of the layer number and with respect to the bulk.

Two-dimensional (2D) magnets like chromium trihalides CrX3 (X = I, Br, Cl) represent a frontier for spintronics applications and, in particular, CrCl3 has attracted research interest for its relative stability...

As the field of nanocrystal-based optoelectronics matures, more advanced techniques must be developed in order to reveal the electronic structure of nanocrystals, particularly with device-relevant conditions. So far, most of the efforts have been focused on optical spectroscopy, and electrochemistry where an absolute energy reference is required. Device optimization requires probing not only the pristine material but also the material in its actual environment (i.e., surrounded by a transport layer and an electrode, in the presence of an applied electric field). Here, we explored the use of photoemission microscopy as a strategy for operando investigation of NC-based devices. We demonstrate that the method can be applied to a variety of materials and device geometries. Finally, we show that it provides direct access to the metal–semiconductor interface band bending as well as the distance over which the gate effect propagates in field-effect transistors.

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Via experiments performed by varying the doping level of single-layer mechanically exfoliated MoS2 via post exfoliation thermal annealing in the 200÷300 °C temperature range, we study the power dependent room...

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We investigate the experimentally challenging CrCl3 surface by photon energy dependent photoemission. The core and valence electrons after cleavage of the single crystal, either in ultra high vacuum (UHV) or...