posted on 2021-06-24, 19:23authored byFei Pan, Kun Ni, Yue Ma, Hongjian Wu, Xiaoyu Tang, Juan Xiong, Yaping Yang, Chuanren Ye, Hong Yuan, Miao-Ling Lin, Jiayu Dai, Mengjian Zhu, Ping-Heng Tan, Yanwu Zhu, Kostya S. Novoselov
Among
many phase-changing materials, graphite is probably the most
studied and interesting: the rhombohedral (3R) and hexagonal (2H)
phases exhibit dramatically different electronic properties. However,
up to now the only way to promote 3R to 2H phase transition is through
exposure to elevated temperatures (above 1000 °C); thus, it is
not feasible for modern technology. In this work, we demonstrate that
3R to 2H phase transition can be promoted by changing the charged
state of 3D graphite, which promotes the repulsion between the layers
and significantly reduces the energy barrier between the 3R and 2H
phases. In particular, we show that charge transfer from lithium nitride
(α-Li3N) to graphite can lower the transition temperature
down to 350 °C. The proposed interlayer slipping model potentially
offers the control over topological states at the interfaces between
different phases, making this system even more attractive for future
electronic applications.