  The remarkable properties of layered materials such as MoS2 strongly depend
on their dimensionality. Beyond manipulating their dimensions, it has been
predicted that the electronic properties of MoS2 can also be tailored by
carefully selecting the type of edge sites exposed. However, achieving full
control over the type of exposed edge sites while simultaneously modifying the
dimensionality of the nanostructures is highly challenging. Here we adopt a
topdown approach based on focus ion beam in order to selectively pattern the
exposed edge sites. This strategy allows us to select either the armchair (AC)
or the zig-zag (ZZ) edges in the MoS2 nanostructures, as confirmed by
high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements. The edge-type
dependence of the local electronic properties in these MoS2 nanostructures is
studied by means of electron energy-loss spectroscopy measurements. This way,
we demonstrate that the ZZ-MoS2 nanostructures exhibit clear fingerprints of
their predicted metallic character. Our results pave the way towards novel
approaches for the design and fabrication of more complex nanostructures based
on MoS2 and related layered materials for applications in fields such as
electronics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and photocatalysts.
