An innovative technique has been developed by the researchers of University of Exeter, by which the new generation of everyday flexible electronics could be created.
A team of engineering experts have pioneered a new way to ease production of van der Waals heterostructures with high-K dielectrics-assemblies of atomically thin two-dimensional (2-D) crystalline materials.
One such 2-D material is graphene, which comprises of a honeycomb-shaped structure of carbon atoms just one atom thick.
While the advantages of van der Waals heterostructures is well documented, their development has been restricted by the complicated production methods.
Now, the research team has developed a new technique that allows these structures to achieve suitable voltage scaling, improved performance and the potential for new, added functionalities by embedding a high-K oxide dielectric.
The research could pave the way for a new generation of flexible fundamental electronic components.
Dr Freddie Withers, co-author of the paper and from the University of Exeter said: “Our method to embed a laser writable high-K dielectric into various van der Waals heterostructure devices without damaging the neighbouring 2D monolayer materials opens doors for future practical flexible van der Waals devices such as, field effect transistors, memories, photodetectors and LED’s which operate in the 1-2 Volt range”
In order to continue scaling devices ever smaller, researchers are looking at replacing conventional insulators with high-dielectric-constant (high-k) oxides. However, commonly used high-k oxide deposition methods are not directly compatible with 2D materials.
The latest research outlines a new method to embed a multi-functional, nanoscaled high-K oxide, only a within van der Waals devices without degrading the properties of the neighbouring 2D materials.
This new technique allows for the creation of a host of fundamental nano-electronic and opto-electronic devices including dual gated graphene transistors, and vertical light emitting and detecting tunnelling transistors.
