The spectrum of two-dimensional (2D) and layered materials 'beyond graphene' offers a remarkable platform to study new phenomena in condensed matter physics. Among these materials, layered hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), with its wide bandgap energy (∼5.0-6.0 eV), has clearly established that 2D nitrides are key to advancing 2D devices. A gap, however, remains between the theoretical prediction of 2D nitrides 'beyond hBN' and experimental realization of such structures. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of 2D gallium nitride (GaN) via a migration-enhanced encapsulated growth (MEEG) technique utilizing epitaxial graphene. We theoretically predict and experimentally validate that the atomic structure of 2D GaN grown via MEEG is notably different from reported theory. Moreover, we establish that graphene plays a critical role in stabilizing the direct-bandgap (nearly 5.0 eV), 2D buckled structure. Our results provide a foundation for discovery and stabilization of 2D nitrides that are difficult to prepare via traditional synthesis.

No abstract

Doping is a fundamental requirement for tuning and improving the properties of conventional semiconductors. Recent doping studies including niobium (Nb) doping of molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) and tungsten (W) doping of molybdenum diselenide (MoSe 2 ) have suggested that substitutional doping may provide an efficient route to tune the doping type and suppress deep trap levels of two dimensional (2D) materials. To date, the impact of the doping on the structural, electronic and photonic properties of in-situ doped monolayers remains unanswered due to challenges This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.2 including strong film-substrate charge transfer, and difficulty achieving doping concentrations greater than 0.3 at%. Here, we demonstrate in-situ rhenium (Re) doping of synthetic monolayer MoS 2 with ~1 at% Re. To limit substrate-film charge transfer r-plane sapphire is used. Electronic measurements demonstrate that 1 at% Re doping achieves nearly degenerate n-type doping, which agrees with density functional theory calculations. Moreover, low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) indicates a significant quench of the defect-bound emission when Re is introduced, which is attributed to the Mo-O bond and sulfur vacancies passivation and reduction in gap states due to the presence of Re.The work presented here demonstrates that Re doping of MoS 2 is a promising route towards electronic and photonic engineering of 2D materials.