A review on low dimensional metal halides: Vapor phase epitaxy and physical properties

Excited by the great success of metal halide perovskites in the optoelectronic and electro-optic fields and the interesting emerging physics (Rashba splitting, quantum anomalous hall effect) of layered metal halides, metal halides have recently been attracting significant attentions from both research and industrial communities. It is shown that most progresses have been made when these materials are obtained at reduced dimensions. Among several growth methods, vapor phase epitaxy has been demonstrated with a universal control on morphology, phase, and composition. We thus believe that a thorough understanding on the physical properties and on the growth of general metal halide compounds at reduced dimensions would be very beneficial in the study of recent perovskites and layered metal halide materials. This review covers the physical properties of most studied metal halides and summarizes the vapor phase epitaxial growth knowledge collected in the past century. We hope that this comprehensive review could be helpful in designing new physical properties and in planning growth parameters for emerging metal halide crystals.