The microscopic process of oxidative etching of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide(2D MoS_2) at an atomic scale is investigated using a correlative transmission electron microscope(TEM)-etching study.MoS_2 flakes on graphene TEM grids are precisely tracked and characterized by TEM before and after the oxidative etching. This allows us to determine the structural change with an atomic resolution on the edges of the domains, of well-oriented triangular pits and along the grain boundaries. We observe that the etching mostly starts from the open edges, grain boundaries and pre-existing atomic defects.A zigzag Mo edge is assigned as the dominant termination of the triangular pits, and profound terraces and grooves are observed on the etched edges. Based on the statistical TEM analysis, we reveal possible routes for the kinetics of the oxidative etching in 2D MoS_2, which should also be applicable for other 2D transition metal dichalcogenide materials like MoSe_2 and WS_2.
We study the interactions of moving discrete solitons in waveguide arrays with two types of point defects that are constructed by varying either the local linear coupling or local waveguide propagation constant at the center of the waveguide array. A broad discrete soliton is kicked toward the defect and interacts with it. Transmission, reflection, scattering, and trapping during the interaction between the soliton and the defect occur depending on the parameters. The detailed behavior of the soliton dynamics is analyzed numerically. A transmission window in the parameter domain is found and the behavior of this window for different parameters is studied. The dynamics of the soliton in the transmission window is found to have chaotic features under certain circumstances and the causes of these phenomena are identified and discussed.