Integrating superconducting van der Waals materials on paper substrates

Paper has the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of electronic components. In fact, paper is 10 000 times cheaper than crystalline silicon, motivating the research to integrate electronic materials on paper substrates. Among the different electronic materials, van der Waals materials are attracting the interest of the scientific community working on paper-based electronics because of the combination of high electrical performance and mechanical flexibility. Up to now, different methods have been developed to pattern conducting, semiconducting and insulating van der Waals materials on paper but the integration of superconductors remains elusive. Here, the deposition of NbSe₂, an illustrative van der Waals superconductor, on standard copy paper is demonstrated. The deposited NbSe₂ films on paper display superconducting properties (e.g. observation of Meissner effect and resistance drop to zero-resistance state when cooled down below its critical temperature) similar to those of bulk NbSe₂.