Press release

Novel Two-Dimensional Quantum Material Synthesized

A group of scientists from Universität Hamburg, led by Prof. Roland Wiesendanger, has succeeded for the first time in synthesizing a two-dimensional quantum material consisting of a single atomic trilayer of the chemical element tellurium in a hexagonal, honeycomb-lattice structure. In analogy to graphene – a single atomic layer of carbon atoms in a honeycomb structure – this new quantum material is called alpha-“tellurene”. The special electronic properties of alpha-tellurene open up numerous potential fields of application, for example in the area of optoelectronic devices in the mid-infrared regime. The corresponding publication has now appeared in the scientific journal “Advanced Materials”.

The successful synthesis of the novel quantum material is based on the self-assembly of tri-atomic tellurium chains during the growth of a silicon-tellurium compound on an antimony-tellurium substrate. “By optimizing the preparation conditions, we obtained single-atomic layer tellurium for the first time as a novel two-dimensional quantum material with a honeycomb structure,” Roland Wiesendanger says. The experimental proof was provided using atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy as part of the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter".

The theoretical understanding of the synthesis and the special electronic properties of the novel quantum material was developed in close cooperation with scientists at Fuzhou University in China.

Figure: The figure on the left shows schematically the synthesis and structure of the hexagonal alpha-tellurene, while on the right an atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscope image of the hexagonal arrangement of the tellurium atoms can be seen. Image: UHH, AG Wiesendanger.

Original publication:

Xiaochun Huang, Rui Xiong, Chunxue Hao, Wenbin Li, Baisheng Sa, Jens Wiebe, and Roland Wiesendanger,
Experimental Realization of Monolayer a-Tellurene
Advanced Materials 2309023 (2023).
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202309023

 

Further Information:

Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Dr. h.c. Roland Wiesendanger
Department of Physics
University of Hamburg
Phone: 040 / 42838-5244
E-Mail: wiesendanger@physnet.uni-hamburg.de 

PD Dr. Jens Wiebe
Department of Physics
University of Hamburg
Phone: 040 / 42838-3282
E-Mail: jens.wiebe@physnet.uni-hamburg.de