Cera alba-assisted ultraclean graphene transfer for high-performance PbI₂ UV photodetectors

Large polymer residues introduced by the graphene transfer process is still a major obstacle limiting the integration of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene into next-generation electronic and photoelectronic devices. Here we use cera alba, a natural and environmental-friendly material that derives from honeycomb, as the supporting layer for ultraclean graphene transfer. The transferred graphene has a low surface roughness with a surface height fluctuation within 5 nm and an only 80.08% average sheet resistance of the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-transferred graphene. Further, the ultraclean graphene is used as electrodes for the PbI₂-based UV photodetector and enables a 135% improvement on responsivity. The cera alba assisted transfer method reported here could achieve clean and damage-free graphene transfer, promoting the application of CVD-grown two-dimensional (2D) materials in large-area thin-film electronic and optoelectronic devices.