<p>Tuning the structural and electronic properties of layered materials is critical for the development of thin, flexible semiconductors that are capable of overcoming Moore’s law. Intercalation of transition metals (TMs) into the interlayer gaps of a two-dimensional host material is one of the most promising methods toward modifying the electronic properties without disrupting the chemical bonds within the layers. Previous studies have shown that the intercalation of TMs into Bi2Se3, SnS2, TaS2, and NbS2 altered the electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of the material due to orbital hybridization between the d-orbitals of the intercalant and the bands of the host material. However, the synthesis of intercalated 2D materials using compositionally-limited because the process is driven by a charge transfer reaction from the intercalant to the conduction band of the host material, which is difficult to achieve on group VI TMDs (MoS2, WS2) with high energy conduction bands. As a result, only metal atoms that are highly reducing, like alkali metals, can be effectively intercalated into WS2. Meanwhile, alkali metal-intercalated WS2 materials are unstable under ambient conditions, which significantly limits further device application. In this dissertation, we developed a solution-phase synthetic method to successfully intercalate a broad range of redox-active TM cations into WS2 and access a variety of intercalation morphologies. With these different intercalated structures, the electronic properties of WS2 can be systematically adjusted.</p> <p>First, we synthesized vanadium-intercalated WS2, and structural characterization reveals that solvated vanadium cations are uniformly intercalated in WS2, which significantly increases the interlayer spacing from 6.2 Å to 14.2 Å. Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) experiments indicate a strong interaction between the vanadium intercalants and the WS2 basal plane. Electronic transport measurements show that the vanadium-intercalated WS2 is an n-type semiconductor with room-temperature conductivity of 12 S/cm, 2 orders of magnitude higher than pristine WS2. The electronic properties can be further tuned by varying the concentration of V intercalants.</p> <p>We further synthesized TM-intercalated WS2 using 17 different metal precursors, varying the identity, reduction potential, charge density, and ionic radius in order to determine the key properties that influence intercalation. With detailed structural characterization, we determined that both charge density and reduction potential of the precursor are critical toward achieving selective intercalation over secondary nucleation. The strength of the host-guest interaction is also dependent on the transition metal identity. With the strongest interaction between the TM intercalants and WS2 basal plane, FeCl3-WS2 has the lowest work function of 4.97 eV and the highest conductivity of 110 S/cm.</p>

Ce travail porte sur la synthèse et la caractérisation de nouveaux matériaux multiferroïques basés sur le concept très récent de la Ferroélectricité Hybride Impropre.Deux classes de matériaux ont été envisagées : les oxydes de type Ruddlesden-Popper NaRMO4 (R=Y, La; M= Mn, Cr) et les doubles pérovskites ordonnées NaLnCoWO6 (Ln= Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb). Les essais de synthèse sur la première classe n’ont pas permis d’obtenir les composés visés. Pour la seconde classe, l’ensemble des composés ont pu être obtenus par synthèse par voie solide à haute température. Les composés NaLnCoWO6 (Ln=La, Pr, Nd) ont été synthétisés à pression ambiante. L’usage des techniques de Hautes Pressions – Hautes Températures (HP-HT) a permis de stabiliser les composés contenant des terres rares plus petites et d’obtenir ainsi neuf nouveaux composés aux propriétés inédites.L’utilisation combinée de la diffraction sur poudre des rayons X au synchrotron et des neutrons a permis une étude structurale fine de la famille des doubles pérovskites ordonnées NaLnCoWO6. Les groupes d’espace ont été déterminés grâce aux affinements Rietveld des diffractogrammes de Rayons X sur poudre haute résolution. Les composés NaLnCoWO6 (Ln=La, Pr, Nd) cristallisent dans le groupe d’espace centrosymétrique C2/m tandis que les 9 nouveaux composés (Ln= Y, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb) cristallisent dans le groupe d’espace polaire P21. Des mesures de génération de seconde harmonique confirment la structure non-centrosymétrique des nouveaux composés. L’analyse adaptée des modes de symétrie des composés cristallisant dans la structure polaire montre que l’amplitude du mode polaire induit augmente avec la diminution de la taille du cation Ln3+. La polarisation estimée à partir des affinements de la structure pourrait atteindre jusqu’à ~20µC/cm2.Une transition de phase présentant une très large hystérésis en température (~150K) a été observée par diffraction des neutrons pour le composé NaLaCoWO6. De plus, les images obtenues en Microscopie Electronique en Transmission révèlent la présence de bandes dans la phase haute température. Cette superstructure présente une périodicité de 12ap selon la direction [100]p ou [010]p . On a pu montrer à l’aide d’observations en STEM (microscopie à balayage en transmission) combinées avec des mesures en EELS (spectroscopie de pertes d’énergie des électrons) que ce contraste de bandes n’est pas lié à une variation de composition mais bien à une variation structurale. Différents modèles de rotations des octaèdres d’oxygènes ont été élaborés pour valider les données expérimentales obtenues par diffraction des rayons X et de neutrons. Le schéma de rotation qui décrit au mieux les données est a-a-c0. Concernant la phase basse température le groupe d’espace attribué est le groupe polaire P21.Les caractérisations magnétiques ont été réalisées pour toutes ces phases. Tous les composés NaLnCoWO6 s’ordonnent dans une configuration antiferromagnétique. Les températures de Néel varient entre 4 et 13K en fonction de la nature de la terre-rare. Les moments effectifs déterminés par la loi de Curie-Weiss sont en accord avec les moments théoriques attendus. Toutes les températures de Weiss sont négatives traduisant le fait que les interactions antiferromagnétiques sont prépondérantes dans ces systèmes. Les structures magnétiques ont été déterminées pour les composés Ln= Y, La, Tb, and Ho. Pour ces mêmes composés, des mesures diélectriques en fonction de la température et du champ magnétique ont permis de mettre en évidence un couplage magnéto-diélectrique conséquent pour Ln=Y and Ho. Les mesures de courant pyroélectrique autour de la transition magnétique montrent qu’il existe une polarisation induite par l’ordre magnétique dans le composé NaYCoWO6.. C’est la première mise en évidence expérimentale d’un couplage magnéto-électrique dans la famille des doubles pérovskites ordonnées AA’BB’O6. / In this study, new magneto-electric materials were synthesized on the basis of the very recently recognized ferroelectric inducing mechanism, hybrid improper ferroelectricity, and structural and physical properties characterizations were carried out on these new phases.Two classes of materials were focused on: the Ruddlesden-Popper oxides NaRMO4 (R=Y, La; M= Mn, Cr) and the doubly ordered perovskites NaLnCoWO6 (Ln= Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb). Attempts to synthesize the former class failed to give the target phases. All compounds in the latter class were prepared successfully by solid-state reactions at high temperature, among which the compounds NaLnCoWO6 (Ln=La, Pr, Nd) were prepared at ambient pressure while the other nine compounds were synthesized at high pressure.The structural study of the doubly ordered perovskite family NaLnCoWO6 was performed by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXRPD) and neutron powder diffraction (NPD). Based on the Rietveld refinement of the SXRPD patterns, the space groups were assigned. NaLnCoWO6 (Ln=La, Pr, Nd) compounds crystallize in the centrosymmetric C2/m symmetry, whereas the other nine new compounds crystallize in the polar space group P21. Second harmonic generation measurements on powder confirmed the non-centrosymmetric structure of the new compounds. Symmetry mode analysis demonstrates that the amplitude of the induced polar mode increases with a decreasing Ln cation size. The amplitude of the polarization was estimated from the refined structures, and can be as large as ~20µC/cm2.A structural phase transition was observed by NPD in NaLaCoWO6 with a large temperature hysteresis of ~150K. In addition, stripes were observed on the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images in the high temperature phase. The periodicity of this superstructure is 12ap along either the [100]p or [010]p direction. Further investigations by scanning TEM and electron energy loss spectroscopy revealed that the contrast of the stripes is due to a structural modulation rather than a compositional variation. Octahedral tilt twinning models were built with different tilting schemes to fit the observed SXRPD and NPD patterns. The tilting scheme a-a-c0 describes successfully the data. The low temperature phase was unambiguously determined to possess the polar space group P21.Magnetic and electric properties were experimentally characterized. All NaLnCoWO6 compounds order antiferromagnetically below TN which is between 4 and 13K. Curie-Weill fits were performed for all compounds, yielding reasonable effective magnetic moments compared to the theoretical ones. Weiss temperatures were all determined to be negative further indicating that antiferromagnetic interactions are dominant in these systems. Magnetic structures were determined for four NaLnCoWO6 (Ln= Y, La, Tb, and Ho) compounds, of which two have non-magnetic Ln cations (Y and La) and two have magnetic ones (Tb and Ho). Magneto-dielectric coupling was experimentally observed in compounds NaLnCoWO6 (Ln=Y, Tb, Ho) by dielectric measurements as a function of temperature and magnetic field. Polarization was derived for the Y and Ho compounds from pyroelectric current measurement, however, only the NaYCoWO6 compound demonstrates a polar behavior which cannot be switched. This is the first evidence that electric polarization can be induced by the magnetic ordering in the AA’BB’O6 class materials.