Time-Resolved Growth of 2D WSe₂ Monolayer Crystals

Understanding and controlling the growth evolution of atomically thin monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are vital for next-generation 2D electronics and optoelectronic devices. However, their growth kinetics are not fully observed or well understood due to the bottlenecks associated with the existing synthesis methods. This study demonstrates the time-resolved and ultrafast growth of 2D materials by a laser-based synthesis approach that enables the rapid initiation and termination of the vaporization process during crystal growth. The use of stoichiometric powder (e.g., WSe₂) minimizes the complex chemistry during the vaporization and growth process, allowing rapid initiation/termination control over the generated flux. An extensive set of experiments is performed to understand the growth evolution, achieving subsecond growth as low as 10 ms along with a 100 μm/s growth rate on a noncatalytic substrate such as Si/SiO₂. Overall, this study allows us to observe and understand the 2D crystal evolution and growth kinetics with time-resolved and subsecond time scales.