Abstract
Research in electronic nanomaterials, historically dominated by studies of nanocrystals/fullerenes and nanowires/nanotubes, now incorporates a growing focus on sheets with nanoscale thicknesses, referred to as nanomembranes. Such materials have practical appeal because their two-dimensional geometries facilitate integration into devices, with realistic pathways to manufacturing. Recent advances in synthesis provide access to nanomembranes with extraordinary properties in a variety of configurations, some of which exploit quantum and other size-dependent effects. This progress, together with emerging methods for deterministic assembly, leads to compelling opportunities for research, from basic studies of two-dimensional physics to the development of applications of heterogeneous electronics.
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Acknowledgements
We thank F. Du, A.-P. Le and S. Jo for assistance. The preparation of this manuscript was supported by a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship and by AFOSR through a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant (FA9550-08-1-0337). Work described in this Review that was performed by the authors was supported by the US DOE (DE-FG02-03ER46028, DE-FG02-07ER46471, DE-FG36-08GO18021 and DE-FG02-07ER46453), the US NSF/MRSEC programme (DMR-0520527), the US AFOSR (FA9550-08-1-0337) and the US NSF (DMI-0328162).
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J.A.R. led the preparation of the manuscript, wrote the sections ‘Single- and multilayer assembly’, ‘Applications in electronics and optoelectronics’ and ‘Conclusions and outlook’, and assembled the figures. M.G.L. and J.A.R. wrote the section ‘Inorganic nanomembranes’. R.G.N. and J.A.R. wrote the section ‘Organic nanomembranes’. All three authors contributed to the introduction and to editorial modifications of the overall text.
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Rogers, J., Lagally, M. & Nuzzo, R. Synthesis, assembly and applications of semiconductor nanomembranes. Nature 477, 45–53 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10381
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