Observations of 1D interface have implications for electronics

Theorists have predicted the existence of intriguing properties at one dimensional (1D) boundaries between two crystalline components, but experimental verification has eluded researchers because atomically precise 1D interfaces are difficult to construct.

‘While many theoretical studies of such 1D interfaces predict striking behaviours, in our work we have provided the first experimental validation of those interface properties,’ said ORNL’s An-Ping Li in a statement.

The new Nature Communications study builds on work by ORNL and University of Tennessee scientists published in Science earlier this year that introduced a method to grow different two dimensional materials - graphene and boron nitride - into a single layer only one atom thick.

The team’s materials growth technique unlocked the ability to study the 1D boundary and its electronic properties in atomic resolution. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy, spectroscopy and density-functional calculations, the researchers first obtained a comprehensive picture of spatial and energetic distributions of the 1D interface states.