Towards atom-thick integrated circuits

This paper reports a new technique for the production of one-atom-thick thin films combining a conductor (graphene) with insulating hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The process, called patterned regrowth, allows for the growth of electrically isolated graphene devices in continuous two-dimensional sheets with well-defined heterojunctions ensuring that the patterned domains retain distinct electronic properties. Devices made using this approach are likely to remain mechanically flexible and optically transparent, allowing transfer to a range of substrates for flexible, transparent electronics. The introduction of two-dimensional semiconducting materials into the sheets would combine the three key building blocks (insulator, metal and semiconductor) of modern integrated circuitry.