Schematic shows the configuration for structural phase transition on a molybdenum ditelluride monolayer (MoTe2, shown as yellow and blue spheres), which is anchored by a metal electrodes (top gate and ground). The ionic liquid covering the monolayer and electrodes enables a high density of electrons to populate the monolayer, leading to changes in the structural lattice from a hexagonal (2H) to monoclinic (1T’) pattern. (Credit: Ying Wang/Berkeley Lab)
The same electrostatic charge that can make hair stand on end and attach balloons to clothing could be an efficient way to drive atomically thin electronic memory devices of the future, according to a new study led by researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). In a study published today in the journal Nature , scientists have found a way to reversibly change the atomic structure of a 2-D material by injecting, or "doping,” it with electrons. The process uses far less energy than current methods for changing the configuration of a material's structure. "We show, for the first time, that it is possible to inject electrons to drive structural phase changes in materials," said study principal investigator Xiang Zhang, senior faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and a professor at UC Berkeley. "By adding electrons into a material, the overall energy goes up and will tip off the balance, resulting in the atomic structure rearranging to a new pattern that is more stable. Such electron doping-driven structural phase transitions at the 2-D limit is not only important in fundamental physics; it also opens the door for new electronic memory and low-power switching in the next generation of ultra-thin devices." Switching a material's structural configuration from one phase to another is the fundamental, binary characteristic that underlies today's digital circuitry. Electronic components capable of this phase transition have shrunk down to paper-thin sizes, but they are still considered to be bulk, 3-D layers by scientists.
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