Atomic Layer Deposition of Two-Dimensional Layered Materials: Processes, Growth Mechanisms, and Characteristics

Since the discovery of graphene, there has been an ever-increasing interest in two-dimensional (2D) layered materials with exceptional properties. To this end, a variety of synthesis methods have been developed. However, it is still challenging to produce large-scale high-quality single-crystalline 2D materials. In this regard, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has recently shown great promise and has stimulated more and more research efforts, ascribed to its unique growth mechanism and distinguished capabilities to achieve nanoscale films with excellent uniformity, unrivaled conformality, and atomic-scale controllability. This review comprehensively summarizes recent progress on ALD for 2D atomic sheets, including 25 different materials and more than 80 ALD processes. This work highlights different technical routes to ALD, their precise controllability, and their underlying principles for 2D materials. It is expected that this work will help boost more research efforts for controllable growth of high-quality 2D materials via ALD.