Versatile construction of van der Waals heterostructures using a dual-function polymeric film

The proliferation of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures formed by stacking layered materials can accelerate scientific and technological advances. Here, we report a strategy for constructing vdW heterostructures through the interface engineering of the exfoliation substrate using a sub-5 nm polymeric film. Our construction method has two main features that distinguish it from existing techniques. First is the consistency of its exfoliation process in increasing the yield and in producing large (>10,000 μm2) monolayer graphene. Second is the applicability of its layer transfer process to different layered materials without requiring a specialized stamp—a feature useful for generalizing the assembly process. We demonstrate vdW graphene devices with peak carrier mobility of 200,000 and 800,000 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature and 9 K, respectively. The simplicity of our construction method and its versatility to different layered materials may open doors for automating the fabrication process of vdW heterostructures.