Electronic growth of Pd(111) nanostructures on MoS2

Quantum confinement effects can induce the formation of discrete nanostructures with well-defined preferred heights in thin metallic films. In most systems, such electronic growth modes are weak and limited to cryogenic conditions. Recently, however, we have discovered that metals grown upon van der Waals surfaces can exhibit electronic growth at, or even above, room temperature to spontaneously form well-defined and highly stable nanostructures. Here, we explore the initial stages of room temperature deposition of Pd onto MoS2. We found that, even for minimal thicknesses, Pd spontaneously formed discrete islands with three atomic layers. The islands maintained this preferred height for nominal coverages below three atomic layers. At higher coverages, the preferred height switched abruptly to six atomic layers. Unlike previous studies using Au or Ag, the islands did not increase laterally with coverage but rather increased in number with lateral size remaining about the same. The preferred heights in Pd/MoS2 correlate to the Pd Fermi surface topography and are also consistent with thicknesses showing minima in the density of states at the Fermi level, which suggest that the electronic growth modes are the driving factors in these self-assembled Pd nanostructures. The Pd system shows a preference for island nucleation compared to Au and Ag which grow laterally with increasing coverage. This is likely related to differences in bonding at the interface as Pd is typically much more reactive than Ag or Au.

Automated summary

Quantum confinement effects can induce the formation of discrete nanostructures with preferred heights in thin metallic films, with recent discoveries showing that metals grown on van der Waals surfaces can exhibit electronic growth at room temperature. The preferred heights in Pd/MoS2 correlate to the Pd Fermi surface topography and suggest that electronic growth modes are driving factors in the self-assembled Pd nanostructures.