One of the driving forces of the ongoing nanotechnology revolution is the ever-improving ability to understand and control the properties of quantum matter down to the atomic scale. Key drivers in this revolution are quantum materials, such as the layered materials of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family. The realization of novel TMD-based devices relies heavily on understanding the relationship between structural and electrical properties at the nanoscale. The ultimate goal is that of crafting TMD nanostructures in a way that makes possible the tailored control of their properties. In this talk, I will present recent studies illustrating novel fabrication approaches of TMD nanostructures based on combining top-down and bottom-up methods. These allow to control of the resulting geometries and material combinations, making possible the realization of novel functionalities such as metallic edge states arising in MoS2 nanowalls and nanowires, enhanced nonlinear response in vertically-oriented MoS2 nanostructures, and surface plasmons in WS2 nanoflowers. I will emphasize the crucial role that cutting-edge electron microscopy techniques play in these studies.
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