We have only begun the long process of producing single layered
substates of the many prospective material available. The surprises
produced by graphene has shown us that this can be a very profitable
endeavor.
Long before graphene, I considered this to be the great natural
research frontier of chemistry and physics and to be extremely
important. Things hinted at in the test tube blossom on the etching
surface. Today momentum continues to build and makes a bright future
for empirical science.
Here we now have a light emitting substate that will find
applications.
Metal-based graphene alternative "shines" with
promise
A rolled film of the material – the roll is about one tenth
the diameter of a human hair
By Ben
Coxworth
September 25, 2014
With its incredible
strength, chemical stability, high thermal conductivity and low
electrical resistance, it's no wonder that graphene is finding more
and more uses. Soon, however, it may be facing some competition from
molybdenum di-sulphide – a thin metallic film that can emit light.
Graphene consists of a
one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms, arranged in a honeycomb
pattern. Molybdenum di-sulphide (MoS2), on the other hand, is made
from a mixture of molybdenum and sulphur.
It's a member of a
family of materials known as transition metal di-chalcogenides, or
TMDCs. These possess some of graphene's desirable qualities (such as
mechanical strength and electrical conductivity), plus they can also
emit light – this means that they could find use in things like
photodetectors or light-emitting devices.
Unfortunately, it has
previously proven difficult to produce TMDCs in forms any larger than
flakes measuring only a few hundred square microns in area. Now,
however, Dr. Kevin Huang from the University of Southampton has
announced the fabrication of MoS2 films that are just a few
atoms thick, but that have an area of over 1,000 square millimeters.
What's more, they can reportedly be transferred to almost any
substrate.
The films were
produced using a chemical vapor deposition process, that Huang
and his team have been exploring since 2001.
"Being able to
manufacture sheets of MoS2 and related materials, rather than just
microscopic flakes, as previously was the case, greatly expands their
promise for nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications," he
said.
A paper on the
research was recently published in the journal Nanoscale.
Source: University
of Southampton
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