Growth mechanism study and band structure modulation of a manganese doped two-dimensional BlueP-Au network.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are a very promising material family. The two-dimensional inorganic metal network called BlueP-Au network is rapidly attracting the attention of researchers due to its customizable architecture, adjustable chemical functions and electronic properties. Herein, manganese (Mn) was successfully doped on a BlueP-Au network for the first time, then the doping mechanism and electronic structure evolution was studied by in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) based on synchrotron radiation, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Density functional theory (DFT), Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), etc. Mn atoms tend to be stably adsorbed on two sites of the BlueP-Au network. It was the first observation that atoms can absorb on the two sites stably simultaneously. It is different from the previous adsorption models of BlueP-Au networks. The band structure was also successfully modulated, and overall down about 0.25 eV relative to the Fermi edge. It provided a new strategy for customizing the functional structure of the BlueP-Au network, which has provided new insights into monatomic catalysis, energy storage and nano electronic devices.