Graphene is very popular because of its many fascinating properties, but its lack of an electronic bandgap has stimulated the search for 2D materials with semiconducting character. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which are semiconductors of the type MX₂, where M is a transition metal atom (such as Mo or W) and X is a chalcogen atom (such as S, Se or Te), provide a promising alternative. Because of its robustness, MoS₂ is the most studied material in this family. TMDCs exhibit a unique combination of atomic-scale thickness, direct bandgap, strong spin–orbit coupling and favourable electronic and mechanical properties, which make them interesting for fundamental studies and for applications in high-end electronics, spintronics, optoelectronics, energy harvesting, flexible electronics, DNA sequencing and personalized medicine. In this Review, the methods used to synthesize TMDCs are examined and their properties are discussed, with particular attention to their charge density wave, superconductive and topological phases. The use of TMCDs in nanoelectronic devices is also explored, along with strategies to improve charge carrier mobility, high frequency operation and the use of strain engineering to tailor their properties.

石墨烯因其许多引人入胜的特性而非常受欢迎，但由于缺乏电子带隙，促使人们寻求具有半导体特性的2D材料。过渡金属二硫化碳（TMDC）是MX ₂型半导体，其中M是过渡金属原子（例如Mo或W），X是硫族原子（例如S，Se或Te），提供了有希望的替代方法。由于其坚固性，MoS ₂是该家族中研究最多的材料。TMDC具有原子尺度厚度，直接带隙，强自旋-轨道耦合以及良好的电子和机械性能的独特组合，这使它们对于基础研究以及在高端电子，自旋电子，光电子，能量收集，柔性方面的应用很有趣电子产品，DNA测序和个性化医学。在本综述中，研究了用于合成TMDC的方法，并讨论了其特性，并特别注意了它们的电荷密度波，超导和拓扑相。还探讨了TMCD在纳米电子器件中的使用，以及提高电荷载流子迁移率，高频操作和使用应变工程技术来调整其性能的策略。