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Vapour–liquid–solid–solid growth of two-dimensional non-layered β-Bi2O3 crystals with high hole mobility

Nature Materials volume 24, pages 688–697 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Currently, p-type two-dimensional (2D) materials lag behind n-type ones in both quantity and performance, hindering their use in advanced p-channel transistors and complementary logic circuits. Non-layered materials, which make up 95% of crystal structures, hold the potential for superior p-type 2D materials but remain challenging to synthesize. Here we show a vapour–liquid–solid–solid growth of atomically thin (<1 nm), high-quality, non-layered 2D β-Bi2O3 crystals on a SiO2/Si substrate. These crystals form via a transformation from layered BiOCl intermediates. We further realize 2D β-Bi2O3 transistors with room-temperature hole mobility and an on/off current ratio of 136.6 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 1.2 × 108, respectively. The p-type nature is due to the strong suborbital hybridization of Bi 6s26p3 with O 2p4 at the crystal’s M-point valence band maximum. Our work can be used as a reference that adds more 2D non-layered materials to the 2D toolkit and shows 2D β-Bi2O3 to be promising candidate for future electronics.

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Fig. 1: Theoretical and experimental atomic structures of 2D non-layered β-Bi2O3.
Fig. 2: VLSS growth mechanism of 2D non-layered β-Bi2O3.
Fig. 3: Band structure evolution and p-type conduction mechanism of 2D non-layered β-Bi2O3.
Fig. 4: FET performance of p-type 2D non-layered β-Bi2O3.

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Data availability

All relevant data supporting the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information file and from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (no. 2024YFB3612400, H.Z.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos 52372152, X.C.; 92064007, X.C.; 62274089, X.S.; U24A20286, H.Z.; 52131304, H.Z.; and 62261160392, H.Z.) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (nos BZ2024038, X.C. and BK20190476, X.C.).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Yunhai Xiong, Duo Xu, Yousheng Zou.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MIIT Key Laboratory of Advanced Display Materials and Devices, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for Quantum Dot Display, Institute of Optoelectronics & Nanomaterials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Yunhai Xiong, Duo Xu, Yousheng Zou, Lili Xu, Xiufeng Song, Kairui Qu, Tong Zhao, Jie Gao, Jialin Yang, Shengli Zhang, Xiang Chen & Haibo Zeng

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Yujie Yan, Jianghua Wu & Peng Wang

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Chen Qian

  4. CAS Key Laboratory of Nano-Bio Interface & Key Laboratory of Nanodevices and Applications, i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China

    Kai Zhang

  5. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Peng Wang

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  1. Yunhai Xiong
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Contributions

Y.X. performed sample synthesis and characterization. Y.X., D.X., Y.Z., K.Q. and K.Z. contributed to designing and fabricating the devices. Y.Y., J.W. and P.W. contributed to the HAADF-STEM test and analysis. L.X., C.Q., J.Y. and S.Z. performed the DFT calculation and data analysis. X.S., T.Z. and J.G. worked on material characterization. Y.X. and X.C. wrote the manuscript. X.C. and H.Z. supervised the project and contributed to result discussions. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiang Chen or Haibo Zeng.

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Xiong, Y., Xu, D., Zou, Y. et al. Vapour–liquid–solid–solid growth of two-dimensional non-layered β-Bi2O3 crystals with high hole mobility. Nat. Mater. 24, 688–697 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02141-w

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