Selective Wet Etching for Scalable Nanofabrication of Patterned MXene Thin Films

The integration of MXenes, a class of conductive two-dimensional materials, into the microelectronics industry is largely hindered by the lack of scalable patterning methods. Herein, we present a novel wet etching approach for Ti₃C₂T_z MXene micropatterning, offering a facile, clean, cost-effective, and highly controllable technique that preserves the MXene intrinsic electrical and structural properties. By tailoring the etching solution and process parameters, micropatterned MXene electrodes with ∼200 nm lateral resolution were produced. The patterned films were applied to functional devices, including metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors, which demonstrated high conductivity and enhanced photoresponsivity. This work represents the first demonstration of wet etching as a viable method for highly precise MXene patterning, providing a scalable solution for next-generation MXene-based microelectronic technologies.