Laser Patterning of the Sb₂O₃ Atomic Thin Layer Assisted by Near Field Heating

As an important member recently joining the family of two-dimensional dielectrics, the antimony oxide atomic thin layer exhibits extremely high dielectric constant and breakdown voltage, intriguing great enthusiasm to explore these novel physical properties for applications. Herein, transformation of chemical vapor deposition grown α-Sb2O3 flakes into α-Sb2O4 was achieved under ambient conditions using a near field heating effect provided by thin gold films. Flakes with a thickness of 4–42 nm can be fully transformed in 20 s with irradiation of a continuous-wave 532 nm laser. Such a short transformation time further allows laser patterning on α-Sb2O3 flakes with microscale spatial resolution. These results greatly enrich the knowledge of this novel 2D dielectric material and facilitate its application in atomic scale electronic devices.