Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have pioneered a new technique for forming a two-dimensional, single-atom sheet of two different materials with a seamless boundary.
The study, published in the journal Science, could enable the use of new types of 2-D hybrid materials in technological applications and fundamental research.
By rethinking a traditional method of growing materials, the researchers combined two compounds—graphene and boron nitride—into a single layer only one atom thick. Graphene, which consists of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal, honeycomb-like rings, has attracted waves of attention because of its high strength and electronic properties. [Read more…]