In-situ fabrication of Mo6S6-nanowire-terminated edges in monolayer molybdenum disulfide

摘要

Edge structures are highly relevant to the electronic, magnetic, and catalyticproperties of two-dimensional （2D） transition metal dichalcogenides （TMDs）and their one-dimensional （1D） counterparts, i.e., nanoribbons, and should beprecisely tailored for the desired application. In this work, we report theformation of novel Mo6S6 nanowire （NW）-terminated edges in monolayermolybdenum disulfide （MoS2） via an e-beam irradiation process combinedwith high temperature heating. The atomic structures of the NW-terminatededges and the dynamic formation process were observed experimentally usingscanning transmission electron microscopy. Further analysis showed that theNW-terminated edge could be formed on both the Mo-zigzag （ZZ） edge andS-ZZ edge and could exhibit a stability superior to that of the pristine ZZ andarmchair （AC） edges. In addition, analogous edge structures could also beformed in MoS2 nanoribbons and other TMD materials such as MoxWl-xSe2. Webelieve that these novel edge structures may impart novel properties to the 2Dand 1D TMD materials and provide new opportunities for their applications incatalytic, spintronic, and electronic devices.