Abstract:
2D materials are extremally sensitive to their environment. This is because they do not have a bulk component and thus literally all atoms can interact with species adhering to the surface of the 2D material. In ambient conditions the surface gets immediately covered by impurities. In order to preserve a clean surface, we propose a method for exfoliation of the 2D materials in ultra-high vacuum conditions. This allowed us to explore the properties of these materials in a pristine state. To further tailor the properties of 2D materials one can exploit chemical functionalization. However, this process is generally not compatible with ultraclean environment like ultra-high vacuum. I will present our strategies which provides pathway to reach this challenging goal.