Phase patterning in polymorphic two‐dimensional (2D) materials offers diverse properties that extend beyond what their pristine structures can achieve. If precisely controllable, phase transitions can bring exciting new applications for nanometer‐scale devices and ultra‐large‐scale integrations. Here, the focused electron beam is capable of triggering the phase transition from the semiconducting T’’ phase to metallic T’ and T phases in 2D rhenium disulfide (ReS
2
) and rhenium diselenide (ReSe
2
) monolayers, rendering ultra‐precise phase patterning technique even in sub‐nanometer scale is found. Based on knock‐on effects and strain analysis, the phase transition mechanism on the created atomic vacancies and the introduced substantial in‐plane compressive strain in 2D layers are clarified. This in situ high‐resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and in situ electrical characterizations agree well with the density functional theory (DFT) calculation results for the atomic structures, electronic properties, and phase transition mechanisms. Grain boundary engineering and electrical contact engineering in 2D are thus developed based on this patterning technique. The patterning method exhibits great potential in ultra‐precise electron beam lithography as a scalable top‐down manufacturing method for future atomic‐scale devices.
The fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) magnetic systems on solid surfaces, although of high fundamental interest, has yet to be achieved for a crossover between two-dimensional (2D) magnetic layers and their associated 1D spin chain systems. In this study, we report the fabrication of 1D single-unit-cell-width CrCl3 atomic wires and their stacked few-wire arrays on the surface of a van der Waals (vdW) superconductor NbSe2. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and first-principles calculations jointly revealed that the single wire shows an antiferromagnetic large-bandgap semiconducting state in an unexplored structure different from the well-known 2D CrCl3 phase. Competition among the total energies and nanostructure-substrate interfacial interactions of these two phases result in the appearance of the 1D phase. This phase was transformable to the 2D phase either prior to or after the growth for in situ or ex situ manipulations, in which the electronic interactions at the vdW interface play a nontrivial role that could regulate the dimensionality conversion and structural transformation between the 1D-2D CrCl3 phases.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.