Constrained patterning of orientated metal chalcogenide nanowires and their growth mechanism

One-dimensional metallic transition-metal chalcogenide nanowires (TMC-NWs) hold promise for interconnecting devices built on two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides, but only isotropic growth has so far been demonstrated. Here we show the direct patterning of highly oriented Mo₆Te₆ NWs in 2D molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂) using graphite as confined encapsulation layers under external stimuli. The atomic structural transition is studied through in-situ electrical biasing the fabricated heterostructure in a scanning transmission electron microscope. Atomic resolution high-angle annular dark-field STEM images reveal that the conversion of Mo₆Te₆ NWs from MoTe₂ occurs only along specific directions. Combined with first-principles calculations, we attribute the oriented growth to the local Joule-heating induced by electrical bias near the interface of the graphite-MoTe₂ heterostructure and the confinement effect generated by graphite. Using the same strategy, we fabricate oriented NWs confined in graphite as lateral contact electrodes in the 2H-MoTe₂ FET, achieving a low Schottky barrier of 11.5 meV, and low contact resistance of 43.7 Ω µm at the metal-NW interface. Our work introduces possible approaches to fabricate oriented NWs for interconnections in flexible 2D nanoelectronics through direct metal phase patterning.