Metals can be thinned to a few atoms thick

By crushing the molten droplets at a large pressure between two sapphires, a sheet of thick atoms of two thick atoms can be produced. Researchers who developed the process say that rare materials can use applications in industrial chemistry, optics, and computers.

Last year, scientists created a golden sheet Thick single atom which was called “Galden” after graphene, a material made from a single layer of carbon atoms. Such materials are described as 2D because they are chemically as thin as possible.

However, it has never been possible to make other 2D metals. New techniques developed by Luo Jun Du The Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues can create two sheets of bismuth, gallium, indium, tin, and lead, which are as thin as atomic bonds allow.

To squeeze the metals, the researchers used two very flat sapphire crystals with a thin layer of disulfide in a bilayer (MOS₂). They placed powdered metal between these jaws, heated to 400°C until they formed droplets, crushing them with a huge pressure of up to 200 megapascals. The metal was compressed until it cooled to just two atoms thick, or, in the case of bismuth. When the pressure was removed, the 2D metal was stuck between the MOS₂. The seat then slipped out of the sapphire.

Du says the process was devised eight years ago, but the team dug up the recent fruit when MOS discovered it₂. The layers remained the thin metal sheet stable. “The single layer of freestanding metal atoms is simply unstable from a thermodynamic perspective. Therefore, we [had to] We’re developing whole new techniques,” says Du. “The process seems simple, but it works.”

In addition to creating very thin layers of atoms, researchers were able to fine-tune the throttle pressure and create three, four, or more atoms with accuracy.

2D metals can have anomalous properties that help scientists explore macroscopic quantum phenomena and superconductivity, DU says, which could lead to ultra-low power transistors, clear computer displays, and highly efficient catalysts for chemical reactions.

One problem is MOS₂ Encapsulating metal sheets is not easily removed. DU says this may be problematic in some applications, but the experiments suggest that it does not affect electrical conductivity, thus not hindering the 2D metal used in electronic devices.