Optimizing the Transfer and Exfoliation of Large-Area Monolayer 2D Materials

The rise of research and development of 2D materials has led to their use in nanoelectronics. Certain materials like monolayer Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are more favorable for nanoelectronics due to their optical and electronic properties. Current research towards monolayer TMDs is based on improving the ability to exfoliate bulk crystals to create High output and High-quality monolayers on a large scale. A gold-assisted method helps with the output and quality of the monolayers but current etching methods to remove them from the gold have a high risk of damaging them. The current goal of this project is to preserve the size and quality of the monolayers during the etching process by testing multiple experimental methods to see which method is most viable in preserving the monolayer quality. Here, we compare the outcomes of three different monolayer protection methods and analyze the results of different gold assisted exfoliation techniques used to synthesize molybdenum disulfide monolayer samples. These samples were characterized by Photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy to confirm the number of layers and observe the quality of each sample. The steps taken during this project will help increase the viability of using gold substrates as a mediator for the exfoliation of van der Waals bulk crystals to create monolayers of TMDs for use in quantum information science and nanoelectronics.