AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    2D Materials Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session 2D-ThP

Paper 2D-ThP14
Low Damage Layer-controlled Thinning of Black Phosphorus by a Low Energy Ar+ Ion Beam

Thursday, November 2, 2017, 6:30 pm, Room Central Hall

Session: 2D Materials Poster Session
Presenter: Jinwoo Park, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
Authors: J.W. Park, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
D.S. Kim, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
W.O. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
M.K. Mun, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
K.S. Kim, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
G.Y. Yeom, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
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Black phosphorus (BP) is one of the most interested two-dimensional (2D) layered materials due to their unique properties of energy band gap change from 0.3 eV (bulk) to 2.0 eV (monolayer) depending on the number of BP layers for the application of nanoeletronic devices. Currently, for the fabrication of 2D BP materials, a thinning technique from bulk material to 2D material needs to be used while controlling the removed layer thickness. In this study, low-damage layer thinning of BP was performed by using an Ar+ ion beam method and its BP thinning characteristics were investigated. By using the Ar+ ion energy of ~ 45 eV, the BP could be thinned with the thinning rate of ~ 5 Å/min down to bilayer without increasing the surface roughness and changing the chemical binding states. Back-gate BP field-effect transistors (FETs) fabricated with a BP thinned to bilayer ~ 10 layers by the Ar+ ion beam exhibited the electrical characteristics similar to those of pristine BP FETs such as a high-drain current and 7000 on/off ratio suggesting no electrical damage on the BP layers thinned by the low-energy Ar+ ion beam. Therefore, it is believed that the low energy Ar+ ion beam technique used in this study can precisely control thickness 2D materials like BP without any damages and can be a promising thinning method for fabricating 2D-based devices.