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Updated: May 17, 2026

Fabricating van der Waals Heterostructures with Precise Rotational Alignment
Published on: July 5, 2019
Low-dimensional semiconductor superlattices formed by geometric control over nanocrystal attachment
Wiel H Evers1, Bart Goris, Sara Bals
1Condensed Matter and Interfaces, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, P.O. Box 80.000, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Oriented attachment, the process in which nanometer-sized crystals fuse by atomic bonding of specific crystal facets, is expected to be more difficult to control than nanocrystal self-assembly that is driven by entropic factors or weak van der Waals attractions. Here, we present a study of oriented attachment of PbSe nanocrystals that counteract this tuition. The reaction was studied in a thin film of the suspension casted on an immiscible liquid at a given temperature. We report that attachment can be controlled such that it occurs with one type of facets exclusively. By control of the temperature and particle concentration we obtain one- or two-dimensional PbSe single crystals, the latter with a honeycomb or square superimposed periodicity in the nanometer range. We demonstrate the ability to convert these PbSe superstructures into other semiconductor compounds with the preservation of crystallinity and geometry.
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