- Briggs, Natalie;
- Bersch, Brian;
- Wang, Yuanxi;
- Jiang, Jue;
- Koch, Roland J;
- Nayir, Nadire;
- Wang, Ke;
- Kolmer, Marek;
- Ko, Wonhee;
- De La Fuente Duran, Ana;
- Subramanian, Shruti;
- Dong, Chengye;
- Shallenberger, Jeffrey;
- Fu, Mingming;
- Zou, Qiang;
- Chuang, Ya-Wen;
- Gai, Zheng;
- Li, An-Ping;
- Bostwick, Aaron;
- Jozwiak, Chris;
- Chang, Cui-Zu;
- Rotenberg, Eli;
- Zhu, Jun;
- van Duin, Adri CT;
- Crespi, Vincent;
- Robinson, Joshua A
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) metals may be key ingredients in next-generation quantum and optoelectronic devices. However, 2D metals must be stabilized against environmental degradation and integrated into heterostructure devices at the wafer scale. The high-energy interface between silicon carbide and epitaxial graphene provides an intriguing framework for stabilizing a diverse range of 2D metals. Here we demonstrate large-area, environmentally stable, single-crystal 2D gallium, indium and tin that are stabilized at the interface of epitaxial graphene and silicon carbide. The 2D metals are covalently bonded to SiC below but present a non-bonded interface to the graphene overlayer; that is, they are 'half van der Waals' metals with strong internal gradients in bonding character. These non-centrosymmetric 2D metals offer compelling opportunities for superconducting devices, topological phenomena and advanced optoelectronic properties. For example, the reported 2D Ga is a superconductor that combines six strongly coupled Ga-derived electron pockets with a large nearly free-electron Fermi surface that closely approaches the Dirac points of the graphene overlayer.