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Dielectric-assisted transfer using single-crystal antimony oxide for two-dimensional material devices

Nature Electronics volume 8, pages 309–321 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials could be used to build next-generation electronics. However, despite progress in the synthesis of single-crystal 2D wafers for use as the channel material in devices, the preparation of single-crystal dielectric wafers—and their reliable integrating on 2D semiconductors with clean interfaces, large gate capacitance and low leakage current—remains challenging. Here we show that thin (around 2 nm) single-crystal wafers of the dielectric antimony oxide (Sb2O3) can be epitaxially grown on a graphene-covered copper surface. The films exhibit good gate controllability at an equivalent oxide thickness of 0.6 nm. The conformal growth of Sb2O3 allows graphene to be transferred onto application-specific substrates with a low density of cracks and wrinkles. With the approach, and due to the clean dielectric interface, graphene devices can be fabricated on a four-inch wafer that exhibit a maximum carrier mobility of 29,000 cm2 V−1 s−1 (average of 14,000 cm2 V−1 s−1) and good long-term stability. The Sb2O3 can also be transferred and used as a dielectric in molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) devices, leading to devices with an on/off ratio of 108 and minimum subthreshold swing of 64 mV dec−1.

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Fig. 1: Epitaxial growth of single-crystal Sb2O3 on the graphene-covered Cu(111) surface.
Fig. 2: Wafer-scale transfer of 2D materials assisted by Sb2O3 film.
Fig. 3: Electronic properties of the graphene transferred and covered by Sb2O3 films.
Fig. 4: Graphene and MoS2 devices with s-Sb2O3 as top-gate dielectric.
Fig. 5: Patterned transfer of 2D materials and the fabrication of vdW heterostructure.

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The codes used for plotting the data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. T2188101 and 52372038), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant nos. 2024YFE0202200, 2022YFA1204900, 2023YFB3609900 and 2024YFE0109200) and the Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (grant no. 0107/2024/AMJ). We acknowledge the Molecular Materials and Nanofabrication Laboratory (MMNL) in the College of Chemistry, Materials Processing and Analysis Center and Peking nanofab at Peking University for the use of instruments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China

    Junhao Liao, Mingpeng Shang, Haotian Wu, Fangfang Li, Jingyi Hu, Qin Xie, Jianbo Yin, Hailin Peng, Yanfeng Zhang, Li Lin & Zhongfan Liu

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China

    Junhao Liao, Xiaohui Chen, Zhaoning Hu, Saiyu Bu, Yaqi Zhu, Fangfang Li, Zhuofeng Shi, Ziyi Han, Xiaoxu Zhao, Yanfeng Zhang & Li Lin

  3. Beijing Graphene Institute, Beijing, P. R. China

    Junhao Liao, Yixuan Zhao, Xiaohui Chen, Zhaoning Hu, Qi Lu, Mingpeng Shang, Fangfang Li, Qian Zhao, Kaicheng Jia, Qin Xie, Jianbo Yin, Hailin Peng, Yanfeng Zhang, Li Lin & Zhongfan Liu

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China

    Junhao Liao & Xiaohui Qiu

  5. CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China

    Junhao Liao & Xiaohui Qiu

  6. Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China

    Yixuan Zhao, Haotian Wu, Hailin Peng & Zhongfan Liu

  7. State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Science, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, P. R. China

    Qi Lu

  8. Technology Innovation Center of Graphene Metrology and Standardization for State Market Regulation, Beijing Graphene Institute, Beijing, P. R. China

    Qin Xie & Zhongfan Liu

  9. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communications System and Networks, School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China

    Jianbo Yin

  10. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Wendong Wang

  11. National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Wendong Wang

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  1. Junhao Liao
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  2. Yixuan Zhao
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Contributions

L.L. and Z.L. conceived the experiment. L.L. and Z.L. supervised the project. J.L., Y. Zhao, Z.H., Q.Z., Q.L., M.S., H.W. and F.L. conducted the transfer of 4-inch-sized Sb2O3/graphene onto target substrates. J.L. and X.C., characterized the interface between Cu(111) and Sb2O3. J.L., X.C., Y. Zhu, Z.H., Q.Z. and H.W. took and analysed the OM and AFM data. Q.L., M.S., Q.X. and F.L. conducted the Raman measurements of transferred graphene and MoS2. J.Y., J.L., W.W. and Y. Zhao performed device fabrication and electrical measurements of graphene and MoS2. S.B. conducted the calculation of adhesion energy. Y. Zhu, Z.S., Z.H. and X.Z. conducted the TEM characterization and analysis. K.J. conducted the CVD growth of graphene. J.H. and Y. Zhang conducted the growth of MoS2. L.L., Z.L. X.Q. and H.P. discussed the transfer results. All authors discussed the results and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yanfeng Zhang, Li Lin or Zhongfan Liu.

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Liao, J., Zhao, Y., Chen, X. et al. Dielectric-assisted transfer using single-crystal antimony oxide for two-dimensional material devices. Nat Electron 8, 309–321 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-025-01353-x

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