LAUSR

Two-dimensional (2D) materials tend to have the preferable formation of vacancies at the outer surface. Here, contrary to the normal notion, we reveal a type of vacancy that thermodynamically initiates from the interior part of the 2D backbone of germanium selenide (γ-GeSe). Interestingly, the Ge-vacancy (VGe) in the interior part of γ-GeSe possesses the lowest formation energy amongst the various types of defects considered. We also find a low diffusion barrier (1.04 eV) of VGe, which is half of those of sulfur vacancies in MoS2. The facile formation of mobile VGe is rooted in the antibonding coupling of the lone-pair Ge 4s and Se 4p states near the valence band maximum, which also exists in other gamma-phase MX (M = Sn, Ge; X = S, Te). The VGe is accompanied by a shallow acceptor level in the band gap and induces strong infrared light absorption and p-type conductivity. The VGe located in the middle cationic Ge sublattice is well protected by the surface Se layers - a feature that is absent in other atomically thin materials. Our work suggests that the unique well-buried inner VGe, with the potential of forming structurally protected ultrathin conducting filaments, may render the GeSe layer an ideal platform for quantum emitting, memristive, and neuromorphic applications.