News & Press
COVER: OUR PAPER ON THE COVER OF ADVANCED SCIENCE!
January 20, 2021
Our paper is featured as the Front Cover article of the January 20th issue of Advanced Science.
2D diamond boron nitride clusters are produced by inducing a sp2-to-sp3 phase transition with the application of local pressure on atomically thin h‐BN on a SiO2 substrate, at room temperature, and without chemical functionalization, as demonstrated in article 2002541 by Elisa Riedo and co‐workers. Molecular dynamics simulations, mechanical measurements, and Raman spectroscopy experiments show a metastable local rearrangement of the h‐BN atoms into diamond crystal clusters, which depends on the applied pressure and number of atomic layers.
PRESS RELEASE: NEW ARTICLE OUT IN ADVANCED SCIENCE
December 11, 2020
Pressure-induced phase transformation of hexagonal boron nitride into 2D Diamond
Novel 2D materials hold promising prospects for groundbreaking progress in mechanical technologies. Indentation experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that under pressure few‐layer hexagonal boron nitride (BN) on a SiO2 substrate undergoes a structural sp2‐to‐sp3 phase transformation to a 2D Diamond BN structure, that features up to 50% increase in stiffness compared to the bare substrate. The research, “Pressure‐Induced Formation and Mechanical Properties of 2D Diamond Boron Nitride,” is featured in Advanced Science.
PAPER: TERMOCHEMICAL SCANNING PROBE LITHOGRAPHY ON NATURE COMMUNICATIONS!
July 10, 2020
Spatial defects nanoengineering for bipolar conductivity in MoS2.
Understanding the atomistic origin of defects in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, their impact on the electronic properties, and how to control them is critical for future electronics and optoelectronics. Here, we demonstrate the integration of thermochemical scanning probe lithography (tc-SPL) with a flow-through reactive gas cell to achieve nanoscale control of defects in monolayer MoS2. The tc-SPL produced defects can present either p- or n-type doping on demand, depending on the used gasses, allowing the realization of field effect transistors, and p-n junctions with precise sub-μm spatial control, and a rectification ratio of over 10,000. Doping and defects formation are elucidated by means of X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and density functional theory. We find that p-type doping in HCl/H2O atmosphere is related to the rearrangement of sulfur atoms, and the formation of protruding covalent S-S bonds on the surface. Alternatively, local heating MoS2 in N2 produces n-character.
COVER: NEW PAPER ON OPTICALLY-INSPIRED MAGNONICS ON ADVANCED MATERIALS!
March 05, 2020
In this work, we demonstrate a new methodology for generating and manipulating spin wave wavefronts in nanostructured synthetic antiferromagnets. The paper was published on Jan '20 in the journal Advanced Materials.
Spin‐waves, propagating perturbations in the spin arrangement of magnetic materials, are promising candidates for low‐power computation and signal processing. In the Cover Article, Edoardo Albisetti, Elisa Riedo, Daniela Petti, and co‐workers demonstrate an optically inspired nanomagnonic platform using nanopatterned spin‐textures for launching spatially shaped wavefronts and generating multi‐beam interference patterns. They show that controlling spin‐waves in synthetic antiferromagnets makes a fundamental step toward optically inspired spin‐wave processing.
PAPER: NEW TECHNIQUE FOR PATTERNING METAL CONTACT WITH UNPRECEDENTED RESOLUTION FEATURED ON NATURE ELECTRONICS!
January 16, 2019
Two-dimensional semiconductors, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), exhibit a variety of properties that could be useful in the development of novel electronic devices. However, nanopatterning metal electrodes on such atomic layers, which is typically achieved using electron beam lithography, is currently problematic, leading to non-ohmic contacts and high Schottky barriers. Here, we show that thermal scanning probe lithography can be used to pattern metal electrodes with high reproducibility, sub-10-nm resolution, and high throughput (105 μm2 h−1 per single probe). The approach, which offers simultaneous in situ imaging and patterning, does not require a vacuum, high energy, or charged beams, in contrast to electron beam lithography. Using this technique, we pattern metal electrodes in direct contact with monolayer MoS2 for top-gate and back-gate field-effect transistors. These devices exhibit vanishing Schottky barrier heights (around 0 meV), on/off ratios of 1010, no hysteresis, and subthreshold swings as low as 64 mV per decade without using negative capacitors or hetero-stacks.