High-throughput manufacturing of epitaxial membranes from a single wafer by 2D materials-based layer transfer process

H Kim and YP Liu and KY Lu and CS Chang and D Sung and M Akl and K Qiao and KS Kim and BI Park and ML Zhu and JM Suh and J Kim and J Jeong and Y Baek and YJ Ji and S Kang and S Lee and NM Han and C Kim and C Choi and XY Zhang and HK Choi and YM Zhang and HZ Wang and LP Kong and NN Afeefah and MNM Ansari and J Park and K Lee and GY Yeom and S Kim and J Hwang and J Kong and SH Bae and YF Shi and S Hong and W Kong and J Kim, NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY, 18, 464-+ (2023).

DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01340-3

Multiple alternating layers of two-dimensional materials and epilayers are grown on III-N and III-V substrates in a single growth run. Then, each epilayer is harvested by mechanical exfoliation, producing multiple freestanding membranes from a single wafer. Layer transfer techniques have been extensively explored for semiconductor device fabrication as a path to reduce costs and to form heterogeneously integrated devices. These techniques entail isolating epitaxial layers from an expensive donor wafer to form freestanding membranes. However, current layer transfer processes are still low-throughput and too expensive to be commercially suitable. Here we report a high-throughput layer transfer technique that can produce multiple compound semiconductor membranes from a single wafer. We directly grow two-dimensional (2D) materials on III-N and III-V substrates using epitaxy tools, which enables a scheme comprised of multiple alternating layers of 2D materials and epilayers that can be formed by a single growth run. Each epilayer in the multistack structure is then harvested by layer-by-layer mechanical exfoliation, producing multiple freestanding membranes from a single wafer without involving time-consuming processes such as sacrificial layer etching or wafer polishing. Moreover, atomic-precision exfoliation at the 2D interface allows for the recycling of the wafers for subsequent membrane production, with the potential for greatly reducing the manufacturing cost.

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