Defect-Templated Phase Engineering in Atomically Thin Metals.

Authors

Arpit Jain, Boyang Zheng, Sawani Datta, Kanchan Ulman, Jakob Henz, Matthew Wei-Jun Liu, Van Dong Pham, Wen He, Chengye Dong, Li-Syuan Lu, Alexander Vera, Nader Sawtarie, Wesley Auker, Ke Wang, Bob Hengstebeck, Zachary W Henshaw, Shreya Mathela, Maxwell Wetherington, William H Blades, Kenneth Knappenberger, Ursula Wurstbauer, Su Ying Quek, Ulrich Starke, Shengxi Huang, Vincent H Crespi, Joshua A Robinson

Published in

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). Pages e74689. Aug 19, 2026. Epub Aug 19, 2026.

Abstract

Achieving deterministic control over crystal phase at the atomic limit remains a fundamental challenge for atomically thin metals, where subtle differences in atomic registry can produce large changes in electronic and optical functionality. Here, we establish interfacial defect templating as a general materials-design strategy for phase engineering in confined two-dimensional metals, using monolayer silver as a model system. By tailoring the defect chemistry of a graphene overlayer, we selectively stabilize two competing crystalline phases of two-dimensional Ag at the graphene/SiC interface: a near-commensurate phase promoted by vacancy and line defects in epitaxial graphene, and a denser phase favored beneath intrinsically sp³-rich zero-layer graphene. Multimodal characterization reveals distinct lattice registries, electronic structures, and charge transfer to the graphene overlayer for each phase. First-principles calculations show that phase selectivity arises from a competition between kinetically favored nucleation pathways and thermodynamically preferred packing configurations, explaining both controlled phase formation and long-term evolution. The defect-programmed Ag phases exhibit strongly contrasting linear and nonlinear optical responses, enabling phase-tunable optical functionality at atomic thickness. More broadly, this work reframes defects as deliberate design elements for programming structure-property relationships in confined two-dimensional metals.

PMID:
42619401
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Aug 2026.

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