Driven by Moore’s scaling law and the transition to a sustainable society there is an enormous push to develop nanomaterials for novel device architectures and for device concepts with new functionalities. In order to study new nanomaterials systematically and later implement them into devices, new synthesis processes and techniques need to be investigated and developed, that are reliable, reproducible and scalable with ultimate control at the nanoscale. 

Synthesis and integration of 2-D nanomaterials

In our group we pioneer atomic layer deposition (ALD) for 2D nanomaterials synthesis. ALD is a scalable, low temperature preparation method for thin films which offers precise thickness control down to the sub-monolayer and can therefore be instrumental for the large area synthesis of 2D materials. The current focus of the group is on ALD of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs) for (opto)electronics and catalysis.  We use plasma chemistry (plasma-enhanced ALD, PEALD) to control functionalities of the 2D-TMDs, such as morphology, materials phase and stoichiometry. Furthermore, by doping, alloying and by the formation of heterostructures we tune the electrical properties of the 2D TMDs, such as the charge carrier concentration and band gap. 

Our process development goes hand-in-hand with obtaining understanding of the ALD reaction mechanisms at play using for example high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and DFT simulations.