Thickness Dependent Oxidation in CrCl3: a Scanning X-ray Photoemission and Kelvin Probe Microscopies Study

chemistry Medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry Nano- and molecular-scale electronics Nano-biomaterials and bioscience Nanomagnetics Nanomaterials, thin films and nanointerfaces Nanomedicine Nanometrology and nanomechanics Nano-optics Nanopatterning, self-assembly and nanofabrication Nanostructures for energy and sensing applications Natural products chemistry Organo main group chemistry Other nanotechnology (unclassified) Other organic chemistry (unclassified) Photochemistry and photovoltaics Physical organic chemistry Supramolecular chemistry The modifications in the electronic properties induced by the thickness and size of an individual flake of transition-metal halides on different substrates (Si oxide or In-doped tin oxide) are of particular technological interest and even more in the case of the chromium trihalide, whose longer lifetime in ambient conditions is particularly intriguing. By employing synchrotron-based Scanning Photoelectron Microscopy (SPEM) with 0.1 μm resolution and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM), and evaluating the surface modification reaction and surface potential, we established the correlations of the two latter properties with the thickness of flakes, observing a natural tendency to preserve their characteristic when the flakes have significantly less thickness. This preliminary study investigates interfaces made by dry transfer of CrCl3 flakes, which induce spin-orbit coupling to systems, otherwise lacking this property.

Two-dimensional material; Mechanical Exfoliation; CrX3; Kelvin Force Microscopy; Scanning Photoelectron Microscopy (SPEM); Chemical Mapping;work function | Format: ZIP | Size: 2.6 MB | Download | When a peer-reviewed version of this preprint is available, this information will be updated in the information box above. If no peer-reviewed version is available, please cite this preprint using the following information: Kazim, S.; Parmar, R.; Azizinia, M.; Amati, M.; Rauf, M.; Di cicco, A.; Rezvani, S. J.; Mastrippolito, D.; Ottaviano, L.; Klimczuk, T.; Gregoratti, L.; Gunnella, R. Beilstein Arch. 2025, 20255. doi:10.3762/bxiv.2025.5.v1 Citation data can be downloaded as file using the "Download" button or used for copy/paste from the text window below. Citation data in RIS format can be imported by all major citation management software, including EndNote, ProCite, RefWorks, and Zotero. © 2025 Kazim et al.; licensee Beilstein-Institut. This is an open access work licensed under the terms of the Beilstein-Institut Open Access License Agreement (https://www.beilstein-archives.org/xiv/terms), which is identical to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). The reuse of material under this license requires that the author(s), source and license are credited. Third-party material in this work could be subject to other licenses (typically indicated in the credit line), and in this case, users are required to obtain permission from the license holder to reuse the material.