Chinese team creates ultrathin metal films for next-generation electronics

Chinese scientists have recently achieved a breakthrough in the fabrication of single-atom-layer metal materials boasting a thickness of merely one-millionth of that of a standard A4 paper, setting a new record in creating stable two-dimensional non-layered forms of metals that are as thin as their atomic bonds allow.

The pathbreaking research conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics was published in the scientific journal Nature on Thursday.

Zhang Guangyu, corresponding author of the study, said the research pushes the thickness of 2D metal materials to the angstrom scale, where 1 angstrom equals 0.1 nanometer, unlocking new possibilities for next-generation electronics, quantum computing and high-efficiency catalysis.