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Temperature-driven reversible structural transformation and conductivity switching in ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals

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Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with reversible phase transformation are appealing for their rich physics and potential applications in information storage. However, up to now, reversible phase transitions in 2D materials that can be driven by facile nondestructive methods, such as temperature, are still rare. Here, we introduce ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) as an exemplary case. For the first time, their basic electrical properties were investigated based on Hall measurements, showing a record high hole carrier density of ∼ 1022 cm−3 among 2D semiconductors. Besides, an unusual and repeatable conductivity switching behavior at ∼ 250 K were readily observed in a wide thickness range of CVD-grown Cu9S5 (down to 2 unit-cells). Confirmed by in-situ selected area electron diffraction, this unusual behavior can be ascribed to the reversible structural phase transition between the room-temperature hexagonal β phase and low-temperature β′ phase with a superstructure. Our work provides new insights to understand the physical properties of ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals, and brings new blood to the 2D materials family with reversible phase transitions.

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Acknowledgements

J. X. W. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 92064005) and Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure (No. SKL202211SIC). H. T. Y. acknowledges the support from the NSFC (Nos. 51861145201, 52072168, and 21733001) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFA0306200). J. W. H. acknowledges the support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFA1202901). X. W. F. acknowledges financial support from the NSFC at grant (Nos. 11974191 and 2217830), the National Key Research and Development Program of China at grant (No. 2020YFA0309300), the Natural Science Foundation of Tian** at grant (Nos. 20JCZDJC00560 and 20JCJQJC00210), and the 111 Project (No. B23045).

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  1. Lei Zhang and Zeya Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tian** Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tian**, 300350, China

    Lei Zhang, Zhansheng Gao, Jiabiao Chen, Feng Luo & **xiong Wu

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nan**g University, Nan**g, 210093, China

    Zeya Li, Junwei Huang & Hongtao Yuan

  3. Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Laboratory, The Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, School of Physics, Nankai University, Tian**, 300071, China

    Ying Deng & Xuewen Fu

  4. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nan**g University, Nan**g, 210093, China

    Li Li & Weigao Xu

  5. Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Zhengyang Zhou

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  1. Lei Zhang
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Correspondence to Xuewen Fu, Hongtao Yuan or **xiong Wu.

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Zhang, L., Li, Z., Deng, Y. et al. Temperature-driven reversible structural transformation and conductivity switching in ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals. Nano Res. 16, 10515–10521 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5805-9

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