Two-dimensional crystals-based heterostructures: Materials with tailored properties

Abstract

Graphene is just one example of a large class of two-dimensional crystals. These crystals can either be extracted from layered three-dimensional materials or grown artificially by several different methods. Furthermore, they present physical properties that are unique because of the low dimensionality and their special crystal structure. They have potential for semiconducting behavior, magnetism, superconductivity, and even more complex many-body phenomena. Two-dimensional crystals can also be assembled in three-dimensional heterostructures that do not exist in nature and have tailored properties, opening an entirely new chapter in condensed matter research. © 2012 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.