Rich diversity of crystallographic phase formation in 2D RexMo1 – xS2 (x < 0.5) alloy.

We report on the observation of the rich variety of crystallographic phase formation in a Re_xMo_{1 – x}S₂ alloy for x < 0.5. For x < 0.23, no low dimensional superstructural modulation is observed and inter cation hybridization remains discrete, forming dimers to tetramers with increasing Re concentration. For x > 0.23, superstructural modulation is observed. Depending on the Re concentrations (x = 0.23, 0.32, 0.38, and 0.45) and its distributions, various types of cation hybridization result in the rich variety of low dimensional superstructural modulation as directly revealed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. These layered alloy systems may be useful for various energy and novel device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]