The physical properties of solids are inherently coupled to their structure and dimensionality. As such, the realization of nascent physical phenomena and the creation of complex miniaturized devices in the solid state have incessantly relied upon the synthesis of stable low-dimensional crystals that approach the atomic limit. Towards this end, we seek to answer two fundamental questions: How small and stable can low-dimensional inorganic materials be?...as this would lead to unique quantum-confined physical states and the densest integrated circuitries; and How can complexity be encoded into sub-nanoscale solids?...as this would enable us to re-envision more efficient information carriers than electrical charges such as collective states of photons, magnetic spin, atomic vibrations, and emergent quantum bits.

The Maxx Lab tackles these questions by focusing on the discovery and chemical understanding of several classes of crystalline solid state materials comprising of sub-nanometer-thick inorganic chains that are held together by weak van der Waals (vdW) or ionic interactions. Such 1D and quasi-1D structures could be thought of as freestanding “edge states” or “all-inorganic polymers” and could bridge the underexplored chemical and physical knowledge gap that exists between atomically precise 2D and 0D solids. In this lecture, I will present our efforts in elucidating the distinct chemical interactions which govern the structure, dimensionality, assembly, and physical properties of crystals comprised of weakly-bound inorganic chains. My talk will focus on our advances in the precision control of the bottom-up chemistry involved the inter-chain crystallization of optoelectronic 1D and quasi-1D vdW crystals into dimensionally resolved nanostructures such as chains, nanowires, nanoribbons, and nanosheets that approach the sub-nanoscale regime and display drastically altered physical properties compared to their bulk counterparts. Through several examples of stand-alone and interfaced vdW materials, I will define several design rules that we elucidated could direct the synthesis, complex atomic scale ordering, and anisotropic physical properties of several emergent classes of 1D and quasi-1D vdW materials that are poised to become building blocks in next-generation quantum, energy, and sensing technologies.