Exceptional plasticity in the bulk single-crystalline van der Waals semiconductor InSe

Abstract

Inorganic semiconductors are vital for a number of critical applications but are almost universally brittle. Here, we report the superplastic deformability of indium selenide (InSe). Bulk single-crystalline InSe can be compressed by orders of magnitude and morphed into a Möbius strip or a simple origami at room temperature. The exceptional plasticity of this two-dimensional van der Waals inorganic semiconductor is attributed to the interlayer gliding and cross-layer dislocation slip that are mediated by the long-range In-Se Coulomb interaction across the van der Waals gap and soft intralayer In-Se bonding. We propose a combinatory deformability indicator (Ξ) to prescreen candidate bulk semiconductors for use in next-generation deformable or flexible electronics.

Ductile Ag20S7Te3 with Excellent Shape‐Conformability and High Thermoelectric Performance

“…Most recently, the discovery of abnormal high metal‐like ductility in some inorganic semiconductors, such as α‐Ag 2 S, [ 21 ] ZnS (in darkness), [ 22 ] and InSe single crystal, [ 23 ] provides the third possible approach to make hetero‐shaped TEG, that is, directly shaping the materials according to the curved surfaces of the hetero‐shaped heat sources. This approach does not require complex process or additional binders, thus it is more advance for large‐scale and low‐cost fabrication of hetero‐shaped TEG.…”

Recyclable, Healable, and Stretchable High‐Power Thermoelectric Generator

“…One strategy used intrinsically flexible TE materials, including conducting polymers, [11][12][13] carbon-based materials, [14,15] and highly plastic semiconductors. [16,17] Despite these attractive developments, the intrinsically flexible TE materials still suffered inferior TE properties, and the TEGs based on these films were usually constructed using in-plane configurations that made them difficult to build matched thermal impedance when harvesting heat from human body. Quite recently, ionic TE materials as another candidate for thermal energy conversion, showed a magnitude larger temperature gradient driven voltage based on Soret effect than typical electronic TE materials based on electrons/holes diffusion.…”

Design guidelines for chalcogenide-based flexible thermoelectric materials

“…The flexible full-inorganic device generated a high normalized maximum power density of 5. 97 discovered exceptional deformability and plasticity in bulk single-crystalline InSe, which can be used in flexible TEG, sensors, photodetectors, etc. (Fig.…”