Two-dimensional heterostructures: fabrication, characterization, and application

Two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitrides (hBN), and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs, e.g. , MoS 2 ) have attracted considerable attention in the past few years because of their novel properties and versatile potential applications. These 2D layers can be integrated into a monolayer (lateral 2D heterostructure) or a multilayer stack (vertical 2D heterostructure). The resulting artificial 2D structures provide access to new properties and applications beyond their component 2D atomic crystals and hence, they are emerging as a new exciting field of research. In this article, we review recent progress on the fabrication, characterization, and applications of various 2D heterostructures. Two-dimensional atomic layers are integrated into lateral or vertical heterostructures.