NaSn2As2: An Exfoliatable Layered van der Waals Zintl Phase

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that NaSn2As2, a layered Zintl phase, can be exfoliated into 2D layers with unique electronic properties, showing potential for applications in electronics and spintronics.

Contribution

It introduces NaSn2As2 as a new exfoliatable 2D Zintl phase with detailed characterization of its structure, stability, and electronic properties.

Findings

NaSn2As2 can be exfoliated via mechanical and liquid-phase methods.

Bulk and exfoliated NaSn2As2 are resistant to oxidation.

NaSn2As2 is a highly conducting 2D semimetal with complex temperature-dependent conduction channels.

Abstract

The discovery of new families of exfoliatable 2D crystals that have diverse sets of electronic, optical, and spin-orbit coupling properties, enables the realization of unique physical phenomena in these few-atom thick building blocks and in proximity to other materials. Herein, using NaSn2As2 as a model system, we demonstrate that layered Zintl phases having the stoichiometry ATt2Pn2 (A = Group 1 or 2 element, Tt = Group 14 tetrel element and Pn = Group 15 pnictogen element) and feature networks separated by van der Waals gaps can be readily exfoliated with both mechanical and liquid-phase methods. We identified the symmetries of the Raman active modes of the bulk crystals via polarized Raman spectroscopy. The bulk and mechanically exfoliated NaSn2As2 samples are resistant towards oxidation, with only the top surface oxidizing in ambient conditions over a couple of days, while the liquid-exfoliated samples oxidize much more quickly in ambient conditions. Employing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), density functional theory (DFT), and transport on bulk and exfoliated samples, we show that NaSn2As2 is a highly conducting 2D semimetal, with resistivities on the order of 10-6 {\Omega} m. Due to peculiarities in the band structure, the dominating p-type carriers at low temperature are nearly compensated by the opening of n-type conduction channels as temperature increases. This work further expands the family of exfoliatable 2D materials to layered van der Waals Zintl phases, opening up opportunities in electronics and spintronics.