Quantum confinement effects in transferrable silicon nanomembranes and their applications on unusual substrates

Two dimensional (2D) semiconductors have attracted attention for a range of electronic applications, such as transparent, flexible field effect transistors and sensors owing to their good optical transparency and mechanical flexibility. Efforts to exploit 2D semiconductors in electronics are hampered, however, by the lack of efficient methods for their synthesis at levels of quality, uniformity, and reliability needed for practical applications. Here, as an alternative 2D semiconductor, we study single crystal Si nanomembranes (NMs), formed in large area sheets with precisely defined thicknesses ranging from 1.4 to 10 nm. These Si NMs exhibit electronic properties of two-dimensional quantum wells and offer exceptionally high optical transparency and low flexural rigidity. Deterministic assembly techniques allow integration of these materials into unusual device architectures, including field effect transistors with total thicknesses of less than 12 nm, for potential use in transparent, flexible, and stretchable forms of electronics.