High Throughput 2D Materials Fabrication with a Fully Mechanized Platform

Quantum Information Science (QIS) is an emerging research area that promises to revolutionize computing, communication, and sensing. Two-dimensional (2D) materials are one of the most versatile motifs for generating new QIS materials since one layer in arbitrary stacks forms heterostructures unconstrained by epitaxy. Since manual mechanical exfoliation, or “tape exfoliation,” produced mono and few-layered graphene in 2004, researchers have made tremendous progress in 2D material research. However, it has been challenging to study and utilize 2D materials because of a time- and labor-consuming fabrication process that highly depends on the hands-on experience of researchers. Here, I present the ongoing development of a high throughput 2D material fabrication platform, Quantum Material Press (QPress), an integrated cluster tool including three custom machines: an exfoliator, cataloger, and stacker. The exfoliator is a fully automated machine for tape exfoliation using commercial pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape and a roller assembly. The mechanism of the exfoliator is the same as that of the manual tape exfoliation. However, the PSA tape is compressed onto a substrate by a press roller and peeled off by a tape rewinder instead of human hands. After the exfoliation, the cataloger detects and classifies the exfoliated flakes, and makes a data library for users. Finally, we use the fully motorized stacker to stack selected flakes into heterostructure, with 3-axis and 6-axis manipulation stages for a substrate and a stamp, respectively. These machines allow us to investigate underlying mechanisms of 2D material fabrication. We believe that QPress will help us to provide a more reliable method of 2D material fabrication by developing optimum conditions for higher yield and reproducibility.