From super-lubricants, to solar cells, to the fledgling
technology of valleytronics, there is much to be excited about with the
discovery of a unique new two-dimensional semiconductor, rhenium disulfide, by
researchers at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. Rhenium disulfide, unlike
molybdenum disulfide and other dichalcogenides, behaves electronically as if it
were a 2D monolayer even as a 3D bulk material. This not only opens the door to
2D electronic applications with a 3D material, it also makes it possible to
study 2D physics with easy-to-make 3D crystals.