Nature Materials Paper – Assistant Professor Kedar Hippalgaonkar & Professor Raju Ramanujan

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Assistant Professor Kedar Hippalgaonkar, Professor Raju Ramanujan, and team on the publication of their article, entitled “Metastable 1T′-phase group VIB transition metal dichalcogenide crystals” in Nature Materials.

Abstract
Metastable 1T′-phase transition metal dichalcogenides (1T′-TMDs) with semi-metallic natures have attracted increasing interest owing to their uniquely distorted structures and fascinating phase-dependent physicochemical properties. However, the synthesis of high-quality metastable 1T′-TMD crystals, especially for the group VIB TMDs, remains a challenge. Here, we report a general synthetic method for the large-scale preparation of metastable 1T′-phase group VIB TMDs, including WS2, WSe2, MoS2, MoSe2, WS2xSe2(1−x) and MoS2xSe2(1−x). We solve the crystal structures of 1T′-WS2, -WSe2, -MoS2 and -MoSe2 with single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The as-prepared 1T′-WS2 exhibits thickness-dependent intrinsic superconductivity, showing critical transition temperatures of 8.6 K for the thickness of 90.1 nm and 5.7 K for the single layer, which we attribute to the high intrinsic carrier concentration and the semi-metallic nature of 1T′-WS2. This synthesis method will allow a more systematic investigation of the intrinsic properties of metastable TMDs.

The article can be found via this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-021-00971-y

About the journal
Nature Materials is a monthly multi-disciplinary journal aimed at bringing together cutting-edge research across the entire spectrum of materials science and engineering. Nature Materials covers all applied and fundamental aspects of the synthesis/processing, structure/composition, properties and performance of materials, where "materials" are identified as substances in the condensed states (liquid, solid, colloidal) designed or manipulated for technological ends. The journal aims to be the voice of the worldwide materials science community.

Our heartiest congratulations to Prof Hippalgaonkar, Prof Ramanujan and team on their excellent achievement!