Growth and Characterization of Atomically Thin 2D Crystals Using Flux-Assisted Growth

Two-dimensional materials have gathered interest within the physics community for their unique properties and potential applications. The weak Van der Waals forces between the atoms in the crystal allow samples to be thinned down to the few-layer limit where they can be tuned by various external parameters. Vapor transport and flux method are two conventional methods to grow bulk single crystals. Using Mechanical Exfoliation (ME) the bulk crystals can be thinned down to a single layer of atoms. However, ME usually produces small samples, in the range of 1-10 μm lateral dimensions, making them harder to study. Here we look at Flux-Assisted Growth, a novel method of growing ultrathin crystals of lateral dimensions up to 1 cm, as a viable alternative to ME and vapor deposition. The sample I studied is MoO₃ to test the efficiency of this new method. In this work, I successfully grew thin flakes of MoO₃ and performed Raman spectroscopy to check the crystal composition and quality.