Scientific Achievement
Demonstrated in-situ characterization and reversible control of 2D molecular phase transition using current and electric field in a graphene field-effect transistor (FET).
Significance and Impact
This new technique for directly imaging non-equilibrium melting/freezing processes allowed the team to image both phases of a solid/liquid phase transition at the atomic scale.
Research Details
- Deposited molecules onto a graphene FET and imaged them using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)
- Melting and freezing of the molecules was controlled using current and voltage applied to the FET device supporting the molecules and captured by freeze-frame movies
- Thermodynamical analysis of electrically-induced phase transition allows extraction of van der Waals interactions from the data
Publication Details
Liou, H.-Z. Tsai, Z. A. H. Goodwin, A. S. Aikawa, E. Ha, M. Hu, Y. Yang, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, A. Zettl, J. Lischner, M. F. Crommie, Advanced Materials (2023).
