Fig. 1
From: A universal approach for the synthesis of two-dimensional binary compounds
Schematic overview of the synthesis process. A thin layer (~20 nm) of metal M is sputtered onto a c-plane sapphire substrate, and a thick layer (~500 nm) of Au is sputtered on top. The sample is annealed at 850 °C to produce an Au-M alloy, which is then exposed to a vapour of S, Se, Te, or more generally an elemental X gas or vapour. The growth of binary MXn compounds proceeds at the surface of the Au-M layer and is surface-limited
