High Performance Field-Effect Transistors Based on Partially Suspended 2D Materials via Block Copolymer Lithography

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

• Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer potential for next-generation electronics but face challenges in practical applications.
• The substrate effect, arising from interfacial interactions, significantly degrades 2D material device performance.
• Existing top-down fabrication methods for mitigating substrate effects are often complex, costly, or yield poor mechanical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fabrication method for substrate effect-free 2D electronic devices.
• To investigate the interaction mechanism between 2D materials and substrates.
• To enable high-performance 2D material-based electronic, optoelectronic, and energy devices.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing block copolymer (BCP) lithography for self-assembly nanopatterning.
• Creating partially suspended 2D materials by fabricating nanometer-sized holes (31-43 nm diameter).
• Fabricating field-effect transistors (FETs) based on these partially suspended 2D materials.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated nanometer-sized holes using BCP self-assembly.
• Demonstrated substrate effect-free 2D electronic devices through partially suspended structures.
• Elucidated the 2D material-substrate interaction mechanism by measuring device performance across varied feature sizes.

Conclusions:

• Block copolymer lithography offers a versatile approach for fabricating high-performance, substrate effect-free 2D electronic devices.
• The developed strategy is applicable to a wide range of 2D material-based electronic, optoelectronic, and energy applications.
• Partially suspended 2D materials are crucial for overcoming substrate limitations in advanced electronic devices.