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The atomic structure of graphene edges is critical in determining their physical and chemical properties, but they are typically far from ideal. Here, the authors fabricate atomically perfect graphene edges via electron beam mechanical rupture or tearing in high vacuum conditions.

Defects in graphene strongly influence the material's physical properties, leading to the suggestion that defects might be tuned to improve performance. Here, via atomic layer deposition, the authors selectively deposit Pt at graphene line defects and yield a superior platform for sensing applications.

A gold-embedded oxide interlayer can be used to create metal–interlayer–semiconductor contacts for two-dimensional materials that exhibit low series resistance and Fermi level depinning.

Inorganic nanowires composed of gold(I) cyanide can be grown directly on pristine graphene, aligning themselves with the zigzag lattice directions of the graphene, and then used as templates to create graphene nanoribbons with zigzag-edged directions.

Understanding the structural changes in disordered non-equilibrium materials is important for their processing, yet it remains experimentally challenging to follow the dynamics. Here, Choe et al. image the first-order like transition from crystal to liquid in a model molecular system adsorbed on graphene by tracking individual molecules in real time.

Using metal–organic chemical vapour deposition, high-crystallinity MoS₂ monolayers are grown directly on polymers and thin glass substrates at about 150 °C, thus avoiding any transfer process, preserving the electronic properties of MoS₂.

2D layered materials attract interest due to their potential for application in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. Here authors report an order-disorder-type phase transition driven by temperature in bulk lead iodides, and interlayer sliding is identified to play a key role in the mechanism of this phase transition.

Nanoscale mechanical resonators can make precision measurements of force, position and mass. Atomic resolution in mass sensing at room temperature has now been demonstrated with a carbon nanotube-based resonator that essentially operates as a mass spectrometer. The atomic equivalent of shot noise has also been detected.

The mixing between Frenkel and charge-transfer characters in molecular excitons is difficult to analyze. Here, the authors demonstrate the onset and evolution of the mixing using 2D perylene molecular crystals by measuring the reorientation of emission transition dipoles with varying thicknesses.

Artificial stacking of van der Waals materials is an effective method to design and investigate emergent physical properties in condensed matter systems. Here, the authors characterize the natural twisted layer structure of CrI₃, showing its dependence on the sample fabrication process and its implications for the magnetic properties of the material.

Graphene nanoribbons display many advantageous properties compared with large-area graphene, such as possessing a bandgap. Here a technique is presented for the production of graphene nanoribbons via the use of a DNA template, enabling replication of template shape with ribbon widths reaching <10 nm.

Two-dimensional materials show promise for 5G wireless communication applications. Here, the authors report vertical Schottky diodes based on thick mechanically exfoliated WSe₂ flakes having low ohmic contact resistance of 50 Ω and ultrafast cutoff frequency of 27 GHz.

Desulfurization of MoS₂ alters its chemical and physical properties by breaking structural symmetry. Here, the atomic-scale mechanistic pathway by which this occurs is investigated during plasma etching, and changes in chemical structure and physical properties are revealed.

The wafer-scale homogeneous growth of WS_2xSe_2(1-x) monolayer alloys with full-range composition and bandgap modulation is demonstrated using metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. In these 2D TMD alloys, the bowing effect is substantially alleviated, enabling systematic bandgap modulation with the linear relationship between optical bandgap and alloying composition.