Under the leadership of Professor Wang Xinran and Associate Professor Li Taotao from Nanjing University and the Suzhou Laboratory, along with their esteemed collaborators, a remarkable feat has been achieved. They have ingeniously utilized rare earth atoms to modify the surface of sapphire substrates. This groundbreaking accomplishment marks the first-ever international achievement of mass-producing 6-inch two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductor single crystals. The related research findings were featured in the prestigious journal 'Science', under the captivating title 'Robust Epitaxy of Single-Crystal Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides on Lanthanum-Passivated Sapphire'.
