Electrostatic-repulsion-based transfer of van der Waals materials

Van der Waals (vdW) materials offer unique opportunities for 3D integration^1,2 of planar circuits towards higher-density transistors and energy-efficient computation^3-7. Owing to the high thermal budget and special substrate requirement for the synthesis of high-quality vdW materials^8-10, an advanced transfer technique is required that can simultaneously meet a broad range of industrial requirements, including high intactness, cleanliness and speed, large scale, low cost and versatility. However, previous efforts based on either etching or etching-free mechanisms typically only improve one or two of the aforementioned aspects^11-13 and a comprehensive and systematic solution remains lacking. Here we demonstrate an electrostatic-repulsion-enabled advanced transfer technique that is etching free, high yield, fast, wafer scale, low cost and widely applicable, using ammonia solution compatible with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) industry. The high material intactness and interface cleanliness enable superior device performances in 2D field-effect transistors with 100% yield, near-zero hysteresis (7 mV) and near-ideal subthreshold swing (65.9 mV dec^-1). The combination with bismuth contact further enables an ultrahigh on-current of 1.3 mA μm^-1 under 1 V bias. This advanced transfer approach offers a facile and manufacturing-viable solution for vdW-materials-based electronics, paving the way for advanced 3D integration in the future.