journal article·2026-06-13Open access

Large area van der Waals epitaxy of high-mobility two-dimensional tellurium on silicon

Stefania Isceri, Michael Hanke, Giovanni Gandini, Maria C. Paolozzi, Dominik Kriegner, Omar Abou El Kheir, Antonio M. Mio, Federico Fagiani, Ilaria Martinelli, Salvatore Macis, Manfred Ramsteiner, Stefano Lupi, Christian Rinaldi, Stefano Cecchi

npj 2D Materials and Applications· Volume 10· Issue 1

Abstract

Abstract The two-dimensional form of tellurium, named tellurene, holds intriguing properties for a broad range of applications. Here, the large area growth by molecular beam epitaxy of tellurium on Sb-passivated Si(111) is demonstrated. The influence of growth temperature and film thickness on the material properties was investigated. At optimized conditions, the two-dimensional growth of Te films as thin as 4 nm is established. The epilayers possess a (10 $$\bar{1}$$ 0) surface orientation, with the Te chiral chains lying parallel to the surface plane. The van der Waals epitaxy occurs with the formation of a Sb 2 Te 3 interlayer, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Grazing incidence diffraction shows a discrete set of domains with in-plane rotation angles, which result in the alignment of Te lattice planes of neighbouring domains. The high hole mobility of epitaxial tellurium at room temperature is proven by Hall effect measurements. Optical spectroscopy measurements strongly support the electrical data. The thickness-dependent vibrational properties of the material were studied by Raman spectroscopy: by scaling down the film thickness, characteristic features of few-layer tellurium are observed. Hence, the present study opens the way for the integration of two-dimensional tellurium on silicon and the design of novel heterostructures of layered tellurides.
Source: crossref · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

OpenAlex topics: 2D Materials and Applications · Topological Materials and Phenomena · Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

References (69)

Show source-provided references
1. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science 306, 666–669 (2004).10.1126/science.1102896 ↗
2. Berger, C. et al. Ultrathin epitaxial graphite: 2D electron gas properties and a route toward graphene-based nanoelectronics. J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 19912–19916 (2004).10.1021/jp040650f ↗
3. Manzeli, S., Ovchinnikov, D., Pasquier, D., Yazyev, O.V., Kis, A.: 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2, https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2017.33.10.1038/natrevmats.2017.33 ↗
4. Grazianetti, C., Martella, C. & Molle, A. The xenes generations: a taxonomy of epitaxial single-element 2D materials. Phys. Stat. Sol. (RRL) 14, 1900439 (2020).10.1002/pssr.201900439 ↗
5. Molle, A. et al. Buckled two-dimensional xene sheets. Nat. Mater. 16, 163–169 (2017).10.1038/nmat4802 ↗
6. Zhao, A., Wang, B. Two-dimensional graphene-like Xenes as potential topological materials. APL Mater. 8, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5135984.10.1063/1.5135984 ↗
7. Yi, Y., Chen, Z., Yu, X.-F., Zhou, Z.-K., Li, J. Recent Advances in Quantum Effects of 2D Materials. Adv. Quantum Technol. 2, https://doi.org/10.1002/qute.201800111.10.1002/qute.201800111 ↗
8. Shi, Z. et al. Two-dimensional selenium and its composites for device applications. Nano Res. 15, 104–122 (2022).10.1007/s12274-021-3493-x ↗
9. Qiu, G. et al. The resurrection of tellurium as an elemental two-dimensional semiconductor. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41699-022-00293-w.10.1038/s41699-022-00293-w ↗
10. Apte, A. et al. Polytypism in ultrathin tellurium. 2D Mater. 6, 015013 (2018).10.1088/2053-1583/aae7f6 ↗
11. Calavalle, F. et al. Gate-tuneable and chirality-dependent charge-to-spin conversion in tellurium nanowires. Nat. Mater. 21, 526–532 (2022).10.1038/s41563-022-01211-7 ↗
12. Huang, X. et al. Epitaxial growth and band structure of Te film on graphene. Nano Lett. 17, 4619–4623 (2017).10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01029 ↗
13. Shi, Z. et al. Two-Dimensional Tellurium: Progress Challenges, and Prospects. Nanomicro Lett. 12, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-020-00427-z.10.1007/s40820-020-00427-z ↗
14. Deckoff-Jones, S., Wang, Y., Lin, H., Wu, W. & Hu, J. Tellurene: A Multifunctional Material for Mid-infrared Optoelectronics. ACS Photonics 6, 1632–1638 (2019).10.1021/acsphotonics.9b00694 ↗
15. Yan, Z. et al. Emerging Two-Dimensional Tellurene and Tellurides for Broadband Photodetectors. Small 18, 2200016 (2022).10.1002/smll.202200016 ↗
16. Bottom, V. E. The Hall Effect and Electrical Resistivity of Tellurium. Science 115, 570–571 (1952).10.1126/science.115.2995.570 ↗
17. Wang, Y. et al. Mirror-Like Photoconductive Layer-by-Layer Thin Films of Te Nanowires: The Fusion of Semiconductor, Metal, and Insulator Properties. Adv. Mater. 18, 518–522 (2005).10.1002/adma.200501465 ↗
18. Agapito, L. A., Kioussis, N., Goddard, W. A. & Ong, N. P. Novel Family of Chiral-Based Topological Insulators: Elemental Tellurium under Strain. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 176401 (2013).10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.176401 ↗
19. Gao, Z., Taoa, F. & Ren, J. Unusually low thermal conductivity of atomically thin 2D tellurium. Nanoscale 10, 12997–13003 (2018).10.1039/C8NR01649F ↗
20. Wang, Y. et al. Field-effect transistors made from solution-grown two-dimensional tellurene. Nat. Electron. 1, 228–236 (2018).10.1038/s41928-018-0058-4 ↗
21. Ghomi, S. et al. Non-Volatile Resistive Switching in Nanoscaled Elemental Tellurium by Vapor Transport Deposition on Gold. Adv. Sci. 12, 2570006 (2025).10.1002/advs.202570006 ↗
22. Guo, J. et al. Two-dimensional tellurium-polymer membrane for ultrafast photonics. Nanoscale 1, 6235 (2019).10.1039/C9NR00736A ↗
23. Wu, W., Qiu, G., Wang, Y., Wang, R., Ye, P.D.: Tellurene: its physical properties, scalable nanomanufacturing, and device applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 19, https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CS00598B.10.1039/C8CS00598B ↗
24. Qiu, G. et al. Quantum Hall effect of Weyl fermions in n-type semiconducting tellurene. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 585–591 (2020).10.1038/s41565-020-0715-4 ↗
25. Zhu, Z. et al. Multivalency-driven formation of Te-based monolayer materials: A combined first-principles and experimental study. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 106101 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.106101 ↗
26. Qiao, J. et al. Few-layer tellurium: one-dimensional-like layered elementary semiconductor with striking physical properties. Sci. Bull. 63, 159–168 (2018).10.1016/j.scib.2018.01.010 ↗
27. Isceri, S., Dragoni, D., Campi, D., Cecchi, S. & Bernasconi, M. Geometry of tellurene adsorbed on the Si(111)-R30°-Sb surface from first principles calculations. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24, 18608–18614 (2022).10.1039/D2CP01759H ↗
28. Wu, B., Liu, X., Yin, J. & Lee, H. Bulk β-Te to few-layered β-tellurenes: indirect to direct band-gap transitions showing semiconducting property. Mater. Res. Express 4, 095902 (2017).10.1088/2053-1591/aa8ae3 ↗
29. Xian, L., Paz, A. P., Bianco, E., Majayan, P. & AngelRubio Square selenene and tellurene: novel group VI elemental 2D materials with nontrivial topological properties. 2D Mater. 4, 041003 (2017).10.1088/2053-1583/aa8418 ↗
30. Huang, X. et al. Experimental realization of monolayer α-tellurene. Adv. Mater. 36, 2309023 (2024).10.1002/adma.202309023 ↗
31. Wang, Q. et al. Van der Waals epitaxy and photoresponse of hexagonal tellurium nanoplates on flexible mica sheet. ACS Nano 8, 7497–7505 (2014).10.1021/nn5028104 ↗
32. Chen, J. et al. Ultrathin β-tellurium layers grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite by molecular-beam epitaxy. Nanoscale 9, 15945–15948 (2017).10.1039/C7NR04085G ↗
33. Yang, S. et al. Highly crystalline synthesis of tellurene sheets on two-dimensional surfaces: Control over helical chain direction of tellurene. Phys. Rev. Mater. 2, 104002 (2018).10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.104002 ↗
34. Boschker, J. E. et al. Surface reconstruction-induced coincidence lattice formation between two-dimensionally bonded materials and a three-dimensionally bonded substrate. Nano Lett. 14, 3534–3538 (2014).10.1021/nl5011492 ↗
35. Cecchi, S. et al. Interplay between structural and thermoelectric properties in epitaxial Sb2+xTe3 alloys. Adv. Funct. Mater. 29, 1805184 (2019).10.1002/adfm.201805184 ↗
36. Cecchi, S. et al. Thick Does the Trick: Genesis of Ferroelectricity in 2d GeTe-Rich (GeTe)m(Sb2Te3)n Lamellae. Adv. Sci. 11, 2304785 (2024).10.1002/advs.202304785 ↗
37. Kampmeier, J. et al. Suppressing twin domains in molecular beam epitaxy grown Bi2Te3 topological insulator thin films. Cryst. Growth Des. 15, 390–394 (2015).10.1021/cg501471z ↗
38. Nečas, D., Klapetek, P. Gwyddion: an open-source software for SPM data analysis. Open Phys. 10, https://doi.org/10.2478/s11534-011-0096-2.10.2478/s11534-011-0096-2 ↗
39. Muslimov, A. E. et al. Study of the structure of crystalline tellurium on different substrates. Crystallogr. Rep. 60, 561–564 (2015).10.1134/S106377451504015X ↗
40. Wang, G. et al. Atomically smooth ultrathin films of topological insulator Sb2Te3. Nano Res. 3, 874–880 (2010).10.1007/s12274-010-0060-2 ↗
41. Liu, D. S. H., Hilse, M. & Engel-Herbert, R. Desorption characteristics of selenium and tellurium thin films. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 40, 053407 (2022).10.1116/6.0002013 ↗
42. Dragoni, D. Structural and electronic properties of the Te-Si(111) surface from first principles. Phys. Rev. B 106, 195427 (2022).10.1103/PhysRevB.106.195427 ↗
43. Kriegner, D., Wintersberger, E. & Stangl, J. xrayutilities: a versatile tool for reciprocal space conversion of scattering data recorded with linear and area detectors. J. Appl. Cryst. 46, 1162–1170 (2013).10.1107/S0021889813017214 ↗
44. Wang, R. et al. Toward truly single crystalline GeTe films: The relevance of the substrate surface. J. Phys. Chem. C. 118, 29724–29730 (2014).10.1021/jp507183f ↗
45. Varotto, S. et al. Room-temperature ferroelectric switching of spin-to-charge conversion in germanium telluride. Nat. Electron. 4, 740–747 (2021).10.1038/s41928-021-00653-2 ↗
46. Dutton, R. W. & Muller, R. S. Electrical properties of tellurium thin films. Proc. IEEE 59, 1511–1517 (1971).10.1109/PROC.1971.8463 ↗
47. Huang, T. et al. Physical Vapor Deposition of High-Mobility P-Type Tellurium and Its Applications for Gate-Tunable van der Waals PN Photodiodes. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 17, 1861–1868 (2025).10.1021/acsami.4c14865 ↗
48. Amani, M. et al. Solution-Synthesized High-Mobility Tellurium Nanoflakes for Short-Wave Infrared Photodetectors. ACS Nano 12, 7253–7263 (2018).10.1021/acsnano.8b03424 ↗
49. Zhao, X. et al. Controllable synthesis of high-quality two-dimensional tellurium by a facile chemical vapor transport strategy. iScience 25, 103594 (2022).10.1016/j.isci.2021.103594 ↗
50. Yang, P. et al. Growth of Tellurium Nanobelts on h-BN for p-type Transistors with Ultrahigh Hole Mobility. Nanomicro Lett. 14, 109 (2022).
51. Zhou, G. et al. High-Mobility Helical Tellurium Field-Effect Transistors Enabled by Transfer-Free, Low-Temperature Direct Growth. Adv. Mater. 30, 1803109 (2018).10.1002/adma.201803109 ↗
52. Zhao, C. et al. Evaporated tellurium thin films for p-type field-effect transistors and circuits. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 53–58 (2020).10.1038/s41565-019-0585-9 ↗
53. Bianco, E. et al. Large-area ultrathin Te films with substrate-tunable orientation. Nanoscale 12, 12613–12622 (2020).10.1039/D0NR01251C ↗
54. Zhao, C. et al. Tellurium Single-Crystal Arrays by Low-Temperature Evaporation and Crystallization. Adv. Mater. 33, 2100860 (2021).10.1002/adma.202100860 ↗
55. Dressel, M., Grüner, G. Electrodynamics of Solids: Optical Properties of Electrons in Matter. Cambridge university press: Cambridge New York, 2002.10.1017/CBO9780511606168 ↗
56. Rodríguez-de Marcos, L. V., Larruquert, J. I., Méndez, J. A. & Aznárez, J. A. Self-consistent optical constants of SiO2 and Ta2O5 films. Opt. Mater. Express 6, 3622 (2016).10.1364/OME.6.003622 ↗
57. Kalem, S. et al. Photoluminescence from silicon nanoparticles embedded in ammonium silicon hexafluoride. Nanotechnology 21, 435701 (2010).10.1088/0957-4484/21/43/435701 ↗
58. Hava, S., Ivri, J. & Auslender, M. Wavenumber-modulated patterns of transmission through one- and two-dimensional gratings on a silicon substrate. J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 3, 190–195 (2001).10.1088/1464-4258/3/6/370 ↗
59. Linn, J. H. & Hanley, K. L. Quantitative infrared spectroscopy of interstitial oxygen in silicon wafers using multivariate calibration. Appl. Spectrosc. 47, 2102–2107 (1993).10.1366/0003702934066361 ↗
60. Ghosh, P., Kahaly, M. U. & Waghmare, U. V. Atomic and electronic structures, elastic properties, and optical conductivity of bulk Te and Te nanowires: A first-principles study. Phys. Rev. B. 75, 245437 (2007).10.1103/PhysRevB.75.245437 ↗
61. Grillo, S., Postorino, S., Palummo, M. & Pulci, O. Tellurene Polymorphs: A New Frontier for Solar Harvesting with Strong Exciton Anisotropy and High Optical Absorbance. Adv. Energy Mater. 14, 2400674 (2024).10.1002/aenm.202400674 ↗
62. Kuzmenko, A. B. Kramers-Kronig constrained variational analysis of optical spectra. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 083108 (2005).10.1063/1.1979470 ↗
63. Yi, S., Zhu, Z., Cai, X., Jia, Y. & Cho, J.-H. The Nature of Bonding in Bulk Tellurium Composed of One-Dimensional Helical Chains. Inorg. Chem. 57, 5083–5088 (2018).10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b03244 ↗
64. Du, Y. et al. One-dimensional van der Waals material tellurium: Raman spectroscopy under strain and magneto-transport. Nano Lett. 17, 3965–3973 (2017).10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01717 ↗
65. Cecchi, S. et al. Crystallization and Electrical Properties of Ge-Rich GeSbTe Alloys. Nanomaterials 12, 631 (2022).10.3390/nano12040631 ↗
66. Pianetti, A. et al. Epitaxy and Phase Stability of 2D Hexagonal Gallium Telluride on Silicon. Phys. status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Res. Lett. 20, 202500432 (2026).10.1002/pssr.202500432 ↗
67. Jones, L. et al. Smart align–a new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data. ASCI 1, 8 (2015).
68. Jones, L. et al. Optimising multi-frame ADF-STEM for high-precision atomic-resolution strain mapping. Ultramicroscopy 179, 57–62 (2017).10.1016/j.ultramic.2017.04.007 ↗
69. Tang, C. et al. Dependence of Electrical and Optoelectronic Properties on the Metal Contact and Thickness of MBE-Grown Tellurium Thin Films. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6110628 (2026).10.2139/ssrn.6110628 ↗