Molybdenum diselenide () is an

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

and

selenium Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...

. Its structure is similar to that of . Compounds of this category are known as transition metal dichalcogenides, abbreviated TMDCs. These compounds, as the name suggests, are made up of a transition metals and elements of group 16 on the periodic table of the elements. Compared to , exhibits higher electrical conductivity.

Structure

Like many TMDCs, is a layered material with strong in-plane bonding and weak out-of-plane interactions. These interactions lead to exfoliation into two-dimensional layers of single unit cell thickness. The most common form of these TMDCs have trilayers of

sandwiched between

ions causing a trigonal prismatic metal bonding coordination, but it is

octahedral In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

when the compound is exfoliated. The metal ion in these compounds is surrounded by six ions. The coordination geometry of the Mo is sometimes found as octahedral and trigonal prismatic.Parilla, P.; Dillon, A.; Parkinson, B.; Jones, K.; Alleman, J.; Riker, G.; Ginley, D.; Heben, M; Formation of Nanooctahedra in Molybdenum Disulfide and Molybdenum Diselenide Using Pulsed Vapor Transport

Synthesis

Synthesis of involves direct reaction of molybdenum and selenium in a sealed tube at high temperature. Chemical vapor transport with a

halogen The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and the radioactive elements astatine (At) and tennessine (Ts), though some authors would ...

(usually

bromine Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

) is used to purify the compound at very low pressure (less than 10-6 torr) and very high temperature (600–700 °C). It has to be heated very gradually to prevent explosion due to its strong

exothermic In thermodynamics, an exothermic process () is a thermodynamic process or reaction that releases energy from the system to its surroundings, usually in the form of heat, but also in a form of light (e.g. a spark, flame, or flash), electricity (e ...

reaction.

Stoichiometric Stoichiometry () is the relationships between the masses of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry is based on the law of conservation of mass; the total mass of reactants must equal the total m ...

layers crystallize in a hexagonal structure as the sample cools. Excess selenium can be removed by sublimation under vacuum. The synthesis reaction of is: : Mo + 2 Se →

2D-

Single-crystal-thick layers of are produced by scotch tape exfoliation from bulk crystals or by

chemical vapor deposition Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical CVD, the wafer (electro ...

(CVD). The

electron mobility In solid-state physics, the electron mobility characterizes how quickly an electron can move through a metal or semiconductor when pushed or pulled by an electric field. There is an analogous quantity for Electron hole, holes, called hole mobilit ...

of 2D- is significantly higher than that of 2D-. 2D adopts structures reminiscent of

graphene Graphene () is a carbon allotrope consisting of a Single-layer materials, single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, honeycomb planar nanostructure. The name "graphene" is derived from "graphite" and the suffix -ene, indicating ...

, although the latter's electron mobility is thousands of times greater still. In contrast to graphene, 2D- has a

direct Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), ...

band gap In solid-state physics and solid-state chemistry, a band gap, also called a bandgap or energy gap, is an energy range in a solid where no electronic states exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap refers to t ...

, suggesting applications in

transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...

s and

photodetector Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are devices that detect light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation and convert it into an electrical signal. They are essential in a wide range of applications, from digital imaging and optical ...

Natural occurrence

Molybdenum(IV) selenide occurs in the nature as the extremely rare mineral drysdallite.

References

{{Selenides Selenides Molybdenum(IV) compounds Transition metal dichalcogenides Monolayers