Fig. 4: Growth kinetics at TM-decorated edges.
From: Coherently confined single-metal-atom chains in 2D semiconductors
a Energetically optimal atomic configurations during the step-by-step addition of Mo+2S units to the Ni eg-sub zigzag edge. The light blue and silver spheres represent the Mo and S atoms, respectively. The red spheres represent the Ni atoms adsorbed on the edges, while the blue spheres denote the newly incorporated Mo atoms during growth. b The optimal energy pathways for the kinetic growth along the edges decorated with different TM atoms. The black dashed line indicates the energy barrier for the kinetic growth at a pristine MoS2 edge. We set \({\Delta \mu }_{{{{\rm{MoS}}}}_{2}}=0\ {{\rm{eV}}}\), representing the equilibrium condition. c Schematic formation of the Ni SMAC, along with the evolution of total energy during the formation of SMAC via atomic reorganization near the grain boundary. As two oppositely oriented grains are about to coalesce, Ni atoms at two opposite eg-sub edges can migrate toward each other to self-assemble into the SMAC by an exothermic process.
