Van der Waals injection-molded crystals

Abstract Shaping low-dimensional crystals into precise geometries with low disorder is an outstanding challenge. Here, we present a method to grow single crystals of arbitrary geometry within van der Waals (vdW) materials. By injecting molten material between atomically flat vdW layers within an SiO 2 mold, we produce ultraflat and thin crystals of bismuth, tin, and indium that are shaped as hallbars, rings, and nanowires. The crystals are grown fully encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride, a vdW material, providing protection from oxidation. Varying the depth of the mold allows us to control the crystal thickness from ten to a hundred nanometers. Structural measurements demonstrate large single crystals encompassing the entire mold geometry, while transport measurements show reduced disorder scattering. This approach offers a means to produce complex single-crystal nanostructures without the disorder introduced by post-growth nanofabrication.