Interlayer Van Der Waals Interactions Research Articles

Electronic and Vibrational Properties of TiS2, ZrS2, and HfS2: Periodic Trends Studied by Dispersion-Corrected Hybrid Density Functional Methods

The electronic and vibrational properties of TiS2, ZrS2, and HfS2 have been studied using dispersion-corrected hybrid density functional methods. The periodic trends in electronic band structures, electronic transport coefficients, IR and Raman spectra, and phonon dispersion relations were investigated. Comparison to the available experimental data shows that the applied DFT methodology is suitable for the investigation of the layered transition metal dichalcogenide materials with weak interlayer van der Waals interactions. The choice of damping function in the D3 dispersion correction proved to have a surprisingly large effect. Systematic investigation of the periodic trends within group 4 disulfides reveals that TiS2 shows many differences to ZrS2 and HfS2 due to the more covalent M–S bonding in TiS2. ZrS2 and HfS2 mainly show differences for properties where the atomic mass plays a role. All three compounds show similar Seebeck coefficients but clear differences in the relative electrical conductivity of cross- and in-plane directions. The transport and vibrational properties of thin TiS2 single crystals were also investigated experimentally.

Graphene Foam: Hole-Flake Network for Uniaxial Supercompression and Recovery Behavior.

We employed the coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation method to systematically study the uniaxial supercompression and recovery behavior of multiporous graphene foam, in which a mesoscopic three-dimensional network with hole-graphene flakes was proposed. The network model not only considers the physical cross-links and interlayer van der Waals interactions, but also introduces a hole in the flake to approach the imperfection of pristine graphene and the hierarchical porous configuration of real foam material. We first recreated a typical two-stage supercompression stress-strain relationship and the corresponding time-dependent recovery as well as a U-type nominal Poisson ratio. Then the recovery unloading at different strains and multicycle compression-uncompression were both conducted; the initial elastic moduli in the multicycles were found to be the same, and a multilevel residual strain was disclosed. Importantly, the residual strain is not exactly the plastic one, part of which can resurrect in the subsequent loading-unloading-holding. The mesoscopic mechanism of viscoelastic and residual deformation for the recovery can be attributed to the van der Waals repulsion and mechanical interlocking among the hole-flakes; interestingly, the local tensile stress was observed in the virial stress distribution. Particularly, an abnormal turning point in the length-time curve for the mean bead-bond length was captured during the supercompression. After the point, the length abnormally increases for different size ratios of the hole to the flake, which is in line with the mesostructure evolution. The finding may provide a mesoscopic criterion for the supercompression of graphene foam related materials.

Record-Low and Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity of a Quasi-One-Dimensional Bulk ZrTe5 Single Crystal.

Zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe5) has recently attracted renewed interest owing to many of its newly discovered extraordinary physical properties, such as 2D and 3D topological-insulator behavior, pressure-induced superconductivity, Weyl semimetal behavior, Zeeman splitting, and resistivity anomaly. The quasi-one-dimensional structure of single-crystal ZrTe5 also promises large anisotropy in its thermal properties, which have not yet been studied. In this work, via time-domain thermoreflectance measurements, ZrTe5 single crystals are discovered to possess a record-low thermal conductivity along the b-axis (through-plane), as small as 0.33 ± 0.03 W m-1 K-1 at room temperature. This ultralow b-axis thermal conductivity is 12 times smaller than its a-axis thermal conductivity (4 ± 1 W m-1 K-1) owing to the material's asymmetrical crystalline structure. First-principles calculations are further conducted to reveal the physical origins of the ultralow b-axis thermal conductivity, which can be attributed to: (1) the resonant bonding and strong lattice anharmonicity induced by electron lone pairs, (2) the weak interlayer van der Waals interactions, and (3) the heavy mass of Te atoms, which results in low phonon group velocity. This work sheds light on the design and engineering of high-efficiency thermal insulators for applications such as thermal barrier coatings, thermoelectrics, thermal energy storage, and thermal management.

Layer-Coupled States Facilitate Ultrafast Charge Transfer in a Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Trilayer Heterostructure

Forming van der Waals multilayer structures with two-dimensional materials is a promising new method for material discovery. The weak van der Waals interlayer interaction without atomic correspondence relaxes lattice matching requirement and allows formation of high-quality interfaces with virtually any combination of two-dimensional materials. However, the weak nature of the van der Waals interaction also makes it challenging to harness emergent properties of such multilayer materials. Previous studies have indicated that in transition metal dichalcogenide bilayer heterostructures, the interlayer charge and energy transfer is highly efficient. Therefore, it is important to understand interlayer coupling in these materials and its role on charge and energy transfer. Here we show that in a MoSe2/WSe2/WS2 trilayer, the interlayer coupling is strong enough to form layer-coupled states in the conduction band with the electron wave function extends to all three layers. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the layer-coupled states in Q valley are about 0.1 eV below the individual monolayer states in K valley, which is consistent with photoluminescence measurements. Transient absorption measurements show that these layer-coupled states provide a channel for ultrafast interlayer charge transfer between the top WS2 and the bottom MoSe2 layers. In this process, electrons from the K valley of the individual monolayers are scattered to the layer-coupled states in Q valley. Such a partial charge transfer allows formation of partial-indirect excitons with the holes in one monolayer while electrons shared by three layers. The formation of layer-coupled states is promising for harnessing emergent properties of transition metal dichalcogenide multilayer heterostructures. Our findings also provide new ingredient to understand charge and energy transfer in transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers, as the layer-coupled states can play important roles in the efficient transfer observed in these systems.

Electronic and vibrational properties of PbI2 : From bulk to monolayer

Using first-principles calculations, we study the dependence of the electronic and vibrational properties of multi-layered PbI 2 crystals on the number of layers and focus on the electronic-band structure and the Raman spectrum. Electronic-band structure calculations reveal that the direct or indirect semiconducting behavior of PbI 2 is strongly influenced by the number of layers. We find that at 3L-thickness there is a direct-to-indirect band gap transition (from bulk-to-monolayer). It is shown that in the Raman spectrum two prominent peaks, A 1g and E g , exhibit phonon hardening with increasing number of layers due to the inter-layer van der Waals interaction. Moreover, the Raman activity of the A 1g mode significantly increases with increasing number of layers due to the enhanced out-of-plane dielectric constant in the few-layer case. We further characterize rigid-layer vibrations of low-frequency inter-layer shear (C) and breathing (LB) modes in few-layer PbI 2 . A reduced mono-atomic (linear) chain model (LCM) provides a fairly accurate picture of the number of layers dependence of the low-frequency modes and it is shown also to be a powerful tool to study the inter-layer coupling strength in layered PbI 2 .

Electronic and mechanical properties of few-layer borophene

We report first principle calculations of electronic and mechanical properties of few-layer borophene with the inclusion of interlayer van der Waals (vdW) interaction. The anisotropic metallic behaviors are preserved from monolayer to few-layer structures. The energy splitting of bilayer borophene at $\Gamma$ point near the Fermi level is about 1.7 eV, much larger than the values (0.5--1 eV) of other layered semiconductors, indicating much stronger vdW interactions in metallic layered borophene. In particular, the critical strains are enhanced by increasing the number of layers, leading to much more flexibility than that of monolayer structure. On the one hand, because of the buckled atomic structures, the out-of-plane negative Poisson's ratios are preserved as the layer-number increases. On the other hand, we find that the in-plane negative Poisson's ratios disappear in layered borophene, which is very different from puckered black phosphorus. The negative Poisson's ratio will recover if we enlarge the interlayer distance to 6.3 $\mbox\AA$, indicating that the physical origin behind the change of Poisson's ratios is the strong interlayer vdW interactions in layered borophene.

Raman Spectra and Strain Effects in Bismuth Oxychalcogenides

A new type of two-dimensional layered semiconductor with weak electrostatic but not van der Waals interlayer interactions, Bi2O2Se, has been recently synthesized, which shown excellent air stability and ultrahigh carrier mobility. Herein, we combined theoretical and experimental approaches to study the Raman spectra of Bi2O2Se and related bismuth oxychalcogenides (Bi2O2Te and Bi2O2S). The experimental peaks were fully consistent with the calculated results, and were successfully assigned. Bi2O2S was predicted to have more Raman-active modes due to its lower symmetry. The shift of the predicted frequencies of Raman active modes was also found to get softened as the interlayer interaction decreases from bulk to monolayer Bi2O2Se and Bi2O2Te. To reveal the strain effects on the Raman shifts, a universal theoretical equation was established based on the symmetry of Bi2O2Se and Bi2O2Te. It was predicted that the doubly degenerate modes split under in-plane uniaxial/shear strains. Under a rotated uniaxial strain, the changes of Raman shifts are anisotropic for degenerate modes although Bi2O2Se and Bi2O2Te were usually regarded as isotropic systems similar to graphene. This implies a novel method to identify the crystallographic orientation from Raman spectra under strain. These results have important consequences for the incorporation of 2D Bismuth oxychalcogenides into nanoelectronic devices.

A novel model for analysis of multilayer graphene sheets taking into account the interlayer shear effect

In this study, a multiplate shear model is developed for dynamic analysis of multilayer graphene sheets with arbitrary shapes considering the interlayer shear effect. By utilizing the model, then some free-vibration analysis is presented. According to the experimental results, the weak interlayer van der Waals interaction cannot maintain the integrity of carbon atoms in adjacent layers. Therefore, it is required that the interlayer shear effect is accounted to study multilayer graphene mechanical behavior. The governing differential equation of motion is derived for the multilayer graphene sheets utilizing a variational approach based on the Kirchhoff plate model. The essential and natural boundary conditions are also obtained at both the smooth periphery parts of the multilayer graphene sheets and the possible sharp corners. By considering cantilever and simply supported multilayer rectangular graphene sheets as two case studies, the results for the free-vibration analysis are presented based on the developed model, and these results are compared with those of molecular dynamics simulations as some sort of verification. These results show that when the layers number increases, the natural frequency also increases up to a specific number, and afterward the influence of layers number on the natural frequency significantly decreases. Moreover, the natural frequency decreases with increase in the sheet aspect ratio up to a specific value, then the changes in the aspect ratio have no considerable effect in the natural frequency.

Analytical and molecular dynamics simulation approaches to study behavior of multilayer graphene-based nanoresonators incorporating interlayer shear effect

Analytical and molecular dynamics simulation approaches are used in this paper to study free-vibration behavior of multilayer graphene-based nanoresonators considering interlayer shear effect. According to experimental observations, the weak interlayer van der Waals interaction cannot maintain the integrity of carbon atoms in the adjacent layers. Hence, it is vital that the interlayer shear effect is taken into account to design and analyze multilayer graphene-based nanoresonators. The differential equation of motion and the general form of boundary conditions are first derived for multilayer graphene sheets with rectangular shape using the Hamilton’s principle. Then, by pursuing an analytical approach, closed-form results for the natural frequencies are obtained in the case of simply supported boundary conditions. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the graphene sheets are also accomplished to evaluate the accuracy of the presented analytical model’s results. The numerical results indicate that by increasing the layers number, the natural frequency also increases until a specific number of layers, then the effect of layers number on the natural frequency significantly decreases. Moreover, by a rise in aspect ratio of the multilayer graphene sheet, the natural frequency decreases until a specific aspect ratio, next, the changes in the sheet aspect ratio have no considerable effect on the natural frequency.

Interplay of Structural and Bonding Characters in Thermal Conductivity and Born-Effective Charge of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Thermal transport in a material is governed by anharmonicity of crystal potential, which depends on the type of interatomic interaction. Using first-principles calculations, we report that lattice thermal conductivity (κlatt) and its anisotropy (κx,y – κz) of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) increase by orders of magnitude with the change of constituent metal atom from Zr/Hf to Mo/W. This unprecedented difference in κlatt is substantiated by lower phonon group velocity, and 4 times larger anharmonicity of Zr/Hf based TMDs compared to Mo/W based TMDs. The sign and the absolute value of the Born effective charges, which emerges from the ionicity of the bonds, are found to be different for these two classes of materials. This leads to a significant difference in their interlayer van der Waals (vdW) interaction strengths, which are shown to be inversely related to the anisotropy in κlatt.

Superior Electro-Oxidation and Corrosion Resistance of Monolayer Transition Metal Disulfides.

Physics of monolayer and few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and chemistry of few-layer TMDs have been well studied in recent years in the context of future electronic, optoelectronic, and energy harvesting applications. However, what has escaped the attention of the scientific community is the unique chemistry of monolayer TMDs. It has been demonstrated that the basal plane of multilayer TMDs is chemically inert, whereas edge sites are chemically active. In this article, we experimentally demonstrate that the edge reactivity of the TMDs can be significantly impeded at the monolayer limit through monolayer/substrate interaction, thus making the monolayers highly resistant to electrooxidation and corrosion. In particular, we found that few-layer flakes of MoS2 and WS2 exfoliated on conductive TiN substrates are readily corroded beyond a certain positive electrode potential, while monolayer remnants are left behind unscathed. The electrooxidation resistance of monolayers was confirmed using a plethora of characterization techniques including atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) mapping, scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) imaging, and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). It is believed that strong substrate monolayer interaction compared to the relatively weak interlayer van der Waals interaction is responsible for the superior monolayers chemical stability in highly corrosive oxidizing environments. Our findings could pave the way for the implementation of monolayer transition metal disulfides as superior anticorrosion coating which can have a significant socioeconomic impact.

Four-phonon scattering reduces intrinsic thermal conductivity of graphene and the contributions from flexural phonons

We have developed a formalism of the exact solution to linearized phonon Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) for thermal conductivity calculation including three- and four-phonon scattering. We find strikingly high four-phonon scattering rates in single-layer graphene (SLG) based on the optimized Tersoff potential. The reflection symmetry in graphene, which forbids the three-ZA (out-of-plane acoustic) scattering, allows the four-ZA processes $\mathrm{ZA}+\mathrm{ZA}\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}\mathrm{ZA}+\mathrm{ZA}$ and $\mathrm{ZA}\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}\mathrm{ZA}+\mathrm{ZA}$ + ZA. As a result, the large phonon population of the low-energy ZA branch originated from the quadratic phonon dispersion leads to high four-phonon scattering rates, even much higher than the three-phonon scattering rates at room temperature. These four-phonon processes are dominated by the normal processes, which lead to a failure of the single mode relaxation time approximation. Therefore, we have solved the exact phonon BTE using an iterative scheme and then calculated the length- and temperature-dependent thermal conductivities. We find that the predicted thermal conductivity of SLG is lower than the previously predicted value from the three-phonon scattering only. The relative contribution of the ZA branch is reduced from 70% to 30% when four-phonon scattering is included. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the four-phonon scattering in multilayer graphene and graphite is not strong due to the ZA splitting by interlayer van der Waals interaction. We also demonstrate that the five-phonon process in SLG is not strong due to the restriction of reflection symmetry.

Model and applications of transition metal dichalcogenides based compliant substrate epitaxy system

The concept of compliant substrate epitaxy was first proposed by the scientists engaged in crystal growth in the early 1990s. The core idea is to take advantage of such an ultra-thin substrate that the film and the substrate generate strain together to relieve the lattice mismatch during the epitaxy growth. The quality of the epitaxial film is improved due to the reduction of the mismatch dislocation density. However, the preparation of the artificial ultra-thin substrate with good quality requires rather complicated fabrication process. On the other hand, many transition metal dichalcogenides naturally form the compliant substrates, due to their layered structure and weak van der Waals interlayer interaction. In this paper, we introduce the transition metal dichalcogenides based compliant substrate epitaxy model and relevant applications. Through combining density functional theory, linear elasticity theory and dislocation theory, we introduce the model comprehensively by using the Au-MoS2 as a prototypical example. And we explain the experimental results of Au growing on MoS2 from the early transition electron microscopy. In addition, we introduce the experimental work related to the model, especially the Au-mediated exfoliation of large, monolayer and high-quality MoS2. Future directions and relevant important problems to be solved are also discussed.

Phonon Hydrodynamic Heat Conduction and Knudsen Minimum in Graphite.

In the hydrodynamic regime, phonons drift with a nonzero collective velocity under a temperature gradient, reminiscent of viscous gas and fluid flow. The study of hydrodynamic phonon transport has spanned over half a century but has been mostly limited to cryogenic temperatures (∼1 K) and more recently to low-dimensional materials. Here, we identify graphite as a three-dimensional material that supports phonon hydrodynamics at significantly higher temperatures (∼100 K) based on first-principles calculations. In particular, by solving the Boltzmann equation for phonon transport in graphite ribbons, we predict that phonon Poiseuille flow and Knudsen minimum can be experimentally observed above liquid nitrogen temperature. Further, we reveal the microscopic origin of these intriguing phenomena in terms of the dependence of the effective boundary scattering rate on momentum-conserving phonon-phonon scattering processes and the collective motion of phonons. The significant hydrodynamic nature of phonon transport in graphite is attributed to its strong intralayer sp2 hybrid bonding and weak van der Waals interlayer interactions. More intriguingly, the reflection symmetry associated with a single graphene layer is broken in graphite, which opens up more momentum-conserving phonon-phonon scattering channels and results in stronger hydrodynamic features in graphite than graphene. As a boundary-sensitive transport regime, phonon hydrodynamics opens up new possibilities for thermal management and energy conversion.

Theoretical study of phosphorene multilayers: optical properties and small organic molecule physisorption

Phosphorene is an emerging 2D-like material with direct energy band. In this work we report the results of a theoretical study on the electronic structure of phosphorene multilayers. A particular emphasis is put on the investigation of the optical absorption and the functionalization of phosphorene layers with organic molecules such as benzene and fullerene. The investigation is carried out employing the density functional theory, and the effect of using different exchange-correlation functionals for the interlayer van der Waals interaction is discussed. Fundamental quantities like lattice constants, interlayer distance and energy band gap are reported in phosphorene monolayers, bilayers and trilayers. The features of the interband optical absorption are studied from the calculated imaginary part of the dielectric function. The results of the numerical simulation of the phenomenon of the small organic molecule physisorption onto phosphorene indicate that the direct band gap is preserved. In the case of the fullerene physisorption, a deformation in the phosphorene monolayer is induced, leading to a shift of the associated band structure. It is shown that such a modification depends on the particular exchange-correlation functional employed. In the case of benzene physisorption, the electronic structure of the phosphorene remains unchanged and is independent of the position of the benzene molecule. This suggests that benzene would be a good candidate for a molecular coating of phosphorene to shield it against oxidation under ambient conditions.

Dynamic Optical Tuning of Interlayer Interactions in the Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Modulation of weak interlayer interactions between quasi-two-dimensional atomic planes in the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) provides avenues for tuning their functional properties. Here we show that above-gap optical excitation in the TMDCs leads to an unexpected large-amplitude, ultrafast compressive force between the two-dimensional layers, as probed by in situ measurements of the atomic layer spacing at femtosecond time resolution. We show that this compressive response arises from a dynamic modulation of the interlayer van der Waals interaction and that this represents the dominant light-induced stress at low excitation densities. A simple analytic model predicts the magnitude and carrier density dependence of the measured strains. This work establishes a new method for dynamic, nonequilibrium tuning of correlation-driven dispersive interactions and of the optomechanical functionality of TMDC quasi-two-dimensional materials.

Structural and electronic transformation in low-angle twisted bilayer graphene

Experiments on bilayer graphene unveiled a fascinating realization of stacking disorder where triangular domains with well-defined Bernal stacking are delimited by a hexagonal network of strain solitons. Here we show by means of numerical simulations that this is a consequence of a structural transformation of the moiré pattern inherent to twisted bilayer graphene taking place at twist angles θ below a crossover angle . The transformation is governed by the interplay between the interlayer van der Waals interaction and the in-plane strain field, and is revealed by a change in the functional form of the twist energy density. This transformation unveils an electronic regime characteristic of vanishing twist angles in which the charge density converges, though not uniformly, to that of ideal bilayer graphene with Bernal stacking. On the other hand, the stacking domain boundaries form a distinct charge density pattern that provides the STM signature of the hexagonal solitonic network.

Weak interlayer dependence of lattice thermal conductivity on stacking thickness of penta-graphene

Penta-graphene (PG), as a novel carbon allotrope, has attracted considerable attention because of its unique atomic structure and outstanding intrinsic properties. Here, we systematically investigate the effect of layer numbers on the lattice thermal conductivity of the stacked PG structures by solving exactly the linearized phonon Boltzmann transport equation combined with first-principles calculations. We find that the lattice thermal conductivity of the stacked PG is insensitive to the number of layers, which is in sharp contrast to that of graphene. Such a layer-independent thermal conductivity is attributed to the buckled structure of PG which breaks the two-dimensional selection rule of three-phonon scattering and the weak van der Waals interlayer interactions that hardly have any effect on the lattice thermal conductivity. This mechanism can be generalized to other van der Waals layered materials with buckled or puckled structures, which may also show the layer-independent lattice thermal conductivity.

Nature of Interlayer Binding and Stacking of sp-sp2 Hybridized Carbon Layers: A Quantum Monte Carlo Study.

α-Graphyne is a two-dimensional sheet of sp-sp2 hybridized carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice. While the geometrical structure is similar to that of graphene, the hybridized triple bonds give rise to electronic structure that is different from that of graphene. Similar to graphene, α-graphyne can be stacked in bilayers with two stable configurations, but the different stackings have very different electronic structures: one is predicted to have gapless parabolic bands, and the other, a tunable band gap which is attractive for applications. In order to realize applications, it is crucial to understand which stacking is more stable. This is difficult to model, as the stability is a result of weak interlayer van der Waals interactions which are not well captured by density functional theory (DFT). We have used quantum Monte Carlo simulations that accurately include van der Waals interactions to calculate the interlayer binding energy of bilayer graphyne and to determine its most stable stacking mode. Our results show that interlayer bindings of sp- and sp2-bonded carbon networks are significantly underestimated in a Kohn-Sham DFT approach, even with an exchange-correlation potential corrected to include, in some approximation, van der Waals interactions. Finally, our quantum Monte Carlo calculations reveal that the interlayer binding energy difference between the two stacking modes is only 0.9(4) meV/atom. From this we conclude that the two stable stacking modes of bilayer α-graphyne are almost degenerate with each other, and both will occur with about the same probability at room temperature unless there is a synthesis path that prefers one stacking over the other.

Mechanical reinforcement of bioceramics scaffolds via fracture energy dissipation induced by sliding action of MoS2 nanoplatelets.

The inherent brittleness of bioceramics restricts their applications in load bearing implant, although they possess good biocompatibility and bioactivity. In this study, molybdenum disulfide nanoplatelets (MSNPs) were used to reinforce bioceramics (Mg2SiO4/CaSiO3) scaffolds fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS). The fracture mode of scaffolds was transformed from transgranular to mixed trans- and intergranular. It could be explained that MSNPs could slide easily due to their weak interlayer van der Waals interactions and provide elastic deformation due to their high elastic modulus. Such sliding action and elastic deformation synergistically induced crack bridging, crack deflection, pull-out and break of MSNPs. Those effects effectively increased the fracture energy dissipation and strain capacity as well as changed the fracture mode, contributing to high fracture toughness and compression strength. Additionally, the scaffolds with MSNPs not only formed a bioactive apatite layer in simulated body fluid, but also supported cell adhesion and proliferation.