Communications of the ACM
Graphene Key to Two-Dimensional Semiconductor With Extraordinary Properties
A process pioneered by researchers at Pennsylvania State University for making two-dimensional materials could lead to new properties for nitrides.
Credit: Z. Al Balushi and Stephen Weitzner/Penn State MatSE
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University (PSU) say they have developed a method for making two-dimensional (2D) materials that could lead to new, extraordinary properties for nitrides.
The researchers grew 2D gallium nitride using graphene encapsulation, technology they say could be applied to deep ultraviolet lasers, next-generation electronics, and sensors.
"These experimental results open up new avenues of research in 2D materials," says PSU professor Joshua Robinson. "This work focuses on making 2D gallium nitride, which has never been done before."
When grown in its 2D form, gallium nitride transforms into an ultrawide-bandgap material, effectively tripling the energy spectrum it can operate in, including the entire ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectrum.
The researchers used a new growth method, called Migration Enhanced Encapsulated Growth (MEEG), which uses a layer of graphene to assist the growth and stabilize a robust structure of 2D gallium nitride. Producing graphene in this way is advantageous because it leaves a perfectly smooth interface where the two materials meet.
"The MEEG process not only produces ultra-thin sheets of gallium nitride but also changes the crystal structure of the material, which may lead to entirely new applications in electronics and optoelectronics," says PSU professor Joan Redwig.
From Penn State News
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