Kick-off meeting of the project 2D-ENGINE
The project 2D-ENGINE had its kick-off meeting on December 5, 2023, in a virtual and very effective form. The goal of the project is to synthesize novel two-dimensional (2D) materials that do not exist in nature in the bulk form, and to test their potential for various applications – from nanoscaled transistors, to waveguide-integrated LEDs and memristors. 
Most 2D materials studied today, such as graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), or hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), belong to the class of so-called van der Waals materials. These are materials whose crystalline structure resembles a staple of cards, with each card formed by a layer of atoms bound together by very strong in-plane covalent bonds to form an (almost) 2D crystal, and with the different layers held together by weak van der Waals forces to create an overall stable structure.
Figure 2: A prototypical example of van der Waals material is graphite, whose crystal structure is formed by parallel layers of graphene.
By contrast, the materials targeted by the project 2D-ENGINE, present in the bulk form a wurzite structure, but are expected to present a 2D crystal phase below a certain critical thickness as a result of surface-energy minimization, adopting a planar hexagonal structure. The new materials are expected to have the stability of graphene but also possess a finite energy gap, which makes them very interesting for electronic and optoelectronic devices. The project targets in particular hexagonal (h) aluminum nitride (h-AlN), which is a dielectric, as well as hexagonal gallium arsenide (h-GaN) and hexagonal silicon carbide (h-SiC), which instead are semiconductors.
Figure 3: The materials targeted by the project 2D-ENGINE have a wurzite structure in the bulk form but are expected to present a layered 2D structure and a wealth of attracting properties below a certain critical thickness.
AMO’s role in the project is to test the potential of these novel 2D materials for digital technologies and photonics. The focus is in particular on field effect transistors (FET) and light-emitting diodes (LED). For what concerns the growth and the characterization of the novel materials, the project builds on the complementary expertise of partners in Greece, France, Germany and the Netherlands. “I look forward to working with the 2D ENGINE consortium,” says Dr. Zhenxing Wang, group leader of the Graphene Electronics group at AMO. “At AMO we are well experienced in fabricating and characterizing electrical and optoelectrical devices based on ‘standard’ 2D dimensional materials, such as graphene and TMDCs. I am really excited to see how the novel materials will compare with the standard ones in terms of manufacturability and performance. I believe this exploration will be great fun.”
The project 2D-Engine is funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and it is one of the projects that contribute to the Graphene Flagship initiative in its new funding structure.
Project information
Acronym: 2D-ENGINE
Title: Engineering of new 2D materials phases not existing in Nature
Grant ID: 101135168
Duration: 01.10.2023 – 30.09.2027
Total budget: € 3.967.285,00
Coordinator: Dr. Athanasios Dimoulas, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (GR)
Partners: National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (GR), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (FR), University of Patras (GR), Leiden University (NL), Leiden Probe Microscopy BV (NL), AMO GmbH (DE), Fritz Haber Institut der Max Planck Gesellschaft (DE)
More information: https://graphene-flagship.eu/focus/2d-materials-of-tomorrow/2d-engine/
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2D-ENGINE is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement Nr. 101135168.
