Liquid Metal Doping Induced Asymmetry in Two-Dimensional Metal Oxides

Mohammad B Ghasemian; Ali Zavabeti; Francois-Marie Allioux; Pankaj Sharma; Maedehsadat Mousavi; Md Arifur Rahim; Rasoul Khayyam Nekouei; Jianbo Tang; Andrew J Christofferson; Nastaran Meftahi; Somayeh Rafiezadeh; Soshan Cheong; Pramod Koshy; Richard D Tilley; Chris F McConville; Salvy P Russo; Cuong Ton-That; Jan Seidel; Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh

doi:10.1002/smll.202309924

Liquid Metal Doping Induced Asymmetry in Two-Dimensional Metal Oxides

Small. 2024 Jan 23:e2309924. doi: 10.1002/smll.202309924. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mohammad B Ghasemian^{1

2}, Ali Zavabeti^{3

4}, Francois-Marie Allioux^{1

2}, Pankaj Sharma^{5

6

7}, Maedehsadat Mousavi², Md Arifur Rahim^{1

2}, Rasoul Khayyam Nekouei⁸, Jianbo Tang², Andrew J Christofferson^{4

9}, Nastaran Meftahi⁹, Somayeh Rafiezadeh¹⁰, Soshan Cheong¹¹, Pramod Koshy⁸, Richard D Tilley^{11

12}, Chris F McConville^{4

13}, Salvy P Russo⁹, Cuong Ton-That¹⁰, Jan Seidel^{5

8}, Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
² School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
⁴ School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia.
⁵ ARC Center of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET), University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
⁶ College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA, 5042, Australia.
⁷ Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, 5042, Australia.
⁸ School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
⁹ ARC Center of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
¹¹ Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, Electron Microscope Unit, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
¹² School of Chemistry and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
¹³ Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, 3216, Australia.

PMID: 38263808
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202309924

Abstract

The emergence of ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) metal oxides is a topic of significant technological interest; however, many 2D metal oxides lack intrinsic ferroelectric properties. Therefore, introducing asymmetry provides access to a broader range of 2D materials within the ferroelectric family. Here, the generation of asymmetry in 2D SnO by doping the material with Hf_0.5 Zr_0.5 O₂ (HZO) is demonstrated. A liquid metal process as a doping strategy for the preparation of 2D HZO-doped SnO with robust ferroelectric characteristics is implemented. This technology takes advantage of the selective interface enrichment of molten Sn with HZO crystallites. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate a strong tendency of Hf and Zr atoms to migrate toward the surface of liquid metal and embed themselves within the growing oxide layer in the form of HZO. Thus, the liquid metal-based harvesting/doping technique is a feasible approach devised for producing novel 2D metal oxides with induced ferroelectric properties, represents a significant development for the prospects of random-access memories.

Keywords: HZO; SnO; atomically thin; doping; liquid metal.

Abstract

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