Temperature-sensitive spatial distribution of defects in PdSe2 flakes

Defect engineering plays an important role in tailoring the electronic transport properties of van der Waals materials. Methods reported so far mainly rely on the $e\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}x\phantom{\rule{0.333em}{0ex}}s\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}u$ engineering of defect type and concentration, hindering the realization of new types of device functionalities associated with defect engineering. Here, the authors report temperature-sensitive spatial redistribution of defects in PdSe${}_{2}$ thin flakes through scanning tunneling microscopy. The spatial characteristics of defect distribution is strongly related to the electronic transport properties such as anisotropic carrier mobility and phase coherent length, indicating a different avenue for creating novel device functionalities based on $i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}n\phantom{\rule{0.333em}{0ex}}s\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}u$ modulation of defect distribution.