Atomic lift-off of epitaxial membranes for cooling-free infrared detection

Recent breakthroughs in ultrathin, single-crystalline, freestanding complex oxide systems have sparked industry interest in their potential for next-generation commercial devices^1,2. However, the mass production of these ultrathin complex oxide membranes has been hindered by the challenging requirement of inserting an artificial release layer between the epilayers and substrates^3,4. Here we introduce a technique that achieves atomic precision lift-off of ultrathin membranes without artificial release layers to facilitate the high-throughput production of scalable, ultrathin, freestanding perovskite systems. Leveraging both theoretical insights and empirical evidence, we have identified the pivotal role of lead in weakening the interface. This insight has led to the creation of a universal exfoliation strategy that enables the production of diverse ultrathin perovskite membranes less than 10 nm. Our pyroelectric membranes demonstrate a record-high pyroelectric coefficient of 1.76 × 10^-2 C m^-2 K^-1, attributed to their exceptionally low thickness and freestanding nature. Moreover, this method offers an approach to manufacturing cooling-free detectors that can cover the full far-infrared spectrum, marking a notable advancement in detector technology⁵.