Semiconductor-to-metal surface reconstruction in copper selenide/copper heterostructures steered by photoinduced interlayer atom migration

Meiling Chen; Wenhao Liu; Pengcheng Ding; Fengwu Guo; Zhuo Li; Yanghan Chen; Wei Yi; Ye Sun; Jianchen Lu; Lev Kantorovich; Miao Yu

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-57012-4

Semiconductor-to-metal surface reconstruction in copper selenide/copper heterostructures steered by photoinduced interlayer atom migration

Meiling Chen, Wenhao Liu, Pengcheng Ding, Fengwu Guo, Zhuo Li, Yanghan Chen, Wei Yi, Ye Sun^*, Jianchen Lu, Lev Kantorovich, Miao Yu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The photoinduced semiconductor-to-metal transition (PSMT) unveils crucial photodynamic mechanisms and holds great promise for information storage, sensing, optoelectronics, optical switches, etc. All previously reported PSMTs have occurred between two structural phases of the same material, lacking real-space evidence at the atomic or molecular level. Herein, we report atomic-scale observations of a photoinduced ‘face changing’: light irradiation transforms a semiconductor copper selenide (Cu₂Se) surface layer on Cu(111) into a well-defined metallic Cu layer. Se atoms sink to form a new Cu₂Se sublayer, while the original subsurface Cu atoms are lifted to the top layer. The Cu₂Se-to-Cu transition barrier is significantly lower in the excited state compared to the ground state. Thermoactivation enables the reverse transition. The photoinduced Cu₂Se-to-Cu and thermoactivated Cu-to-Cu₂Se transitions are highly reversible. This work, which demonstrates PSMT between two distinct materials and photo-driven interlayer atom migration, unlocks an unconventional and intriguing route for PSMT and surface modification technologies.

Original language	English
Article number	1614
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Issue number	1
Early online date	13 Feb 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57012-4
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 13 Feb 2025

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10.1038/s41467-025-57012-4Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Semiconductor-to-metal_CHEN_Publishedonline13February2025_GOLD VoR (CC-BY-NC-ND)Final published version, 6.36 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "Semiconductor-to-metal surface reconstruction in copper selenide/copper heterostructures steered by photoinduced interlayer atom migration",

abstract = "The photoinduced semiconductor-to-metal transition (PSMT) unveils crucial photodynamic mechanisms and holds great promise for information storage, sensing, optoelectronics, optical switches, etc. All previously reported PSMTs have occurred between two structural phases of the same material, lacking real-space evidence at the atomic or molecular level. Herein, we report atomic-scale observations of a photoinduced {\textquoteleft}face changing{\textquoteright}: light irradiation transforms a semiconductor copper selenide (Cu2Se) surface layer on Cu(111) into a well-defined metallic Cu layer. Se atoms sink to form a new Cu2Se sublayer, while the original subsurface Cu atoms are lifted to the top layer. The Cu2Se-to-Cu transition barrier is significantly lower in the excited state compared to the ground state. Thermoactivation enables the reverse transition. The photoinduced Cu2Se-to-Cu and thermoactivated Cu-to-Cu2Se transitions are highly reversible. This work, which demonstrates PSMT between two distinct materials and photo-driven interlayer atom migration, unlocks an unconventional and intriguing route for PSMT and surface modification technologies.",

author = "Meiling Chen and Wenhao Liu and Pengcheng Ding and Fengwu Guo and Zhuo Li and Yanghan Chen and Wei Yi and Ye Sun and Jianchen Lu and Lev Kantorovich and Miao Yu",

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AU - Chen, Meiling

AU - Liu, Wenhao

AU - Ding, Pengcheng

AU - Guo, Fengwu

AU - Li, Zhuo

AU - Chen, Yanghan

AU - Yi, Wei

AU - Sun, Ye

AU - Lu, Jianchen

AU - Kantorovich, Lev

AU - Yu, Miao

PY - 2025/2/13

Y1 - 2025/2/13

N2 - The photoinduced semiconductor-to-metal transition (PSMT) unveils crucial photodynamic mechanisms and holds great promise for information storage, sensing, optoelectronics, optical switches, etc. All previously reported PSMTs have occurred between two structural phases of the same material, lacking real-space evidence at the atomic or molecular level. Herein, we report atomic-scale observations of a photoinduced ‘face changing’: light irradiation transforms a semiconductor copper selenide (Cu2Se) surface layer on Cu(111) into a well-defined metallic Cu layer. Se atoms sink to form a new Cu2Se sublayer, while the original subsurface Cu atoms are lifted to the top layer. The Cu2Se-to-Cu transition barrier is significantly lower in the excited state compared to the ground state. Thermoactivation enables the reverse transition. The photoinduced Cu2Se-to-Cu and thermoactivated Cu-to-Cu2Se transitions are highly reversible. This work, which demonstrates PSMT between two distinct materials and photo-driven interlayer atom migration, unlocks an unconventional and intriguing route for PSMT and surface modification technologies.

AB - The photoinduced semiconductor-to-metal transition (PSMT) unveils crucial photodynamic mechanisms and holds great promise for information storage, sensing, optoelectronics, optical switches, etc. All previously reported PSMTs have occurred between two structural phases of the same material, lacking real-space evidence at the atomic or molecular level. Herein, we report atomic-scale observations of a photoinduced ‘face changing’: light irradiation transforms a semiconductor copper selenide (Cu2Se) surface layer on Cu(111) into a well-defined metallic Cu layer. Se atoms sink to form a new Cu2Se sublayer, while the original subsurface Cu atoms are lifted to the top layer. The Cu2Se-to-Cu transition barrier is significantly lower in the excited state compared to the ground state. Thermoactivation enables the reverse transition. The photoinduced Cu2Se-to-Cu and thermoactivated Cu-to-Cu2Se transitions are highly reversible. This work, which demonstrates PSMT between two distinct materials and photo-driven interlayer atom migration, unlocks an unconventional and intriguing route for PSMT and surface modification technologies.

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Semiconductor-to-metal surface reconstruction in copper selenide/copper heterostructures steered by photoinduced interlayer atom migration

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