Mechanical Self-Assembly Technology for 2D Materials

Abstract

Self-assembled mechanical instabilities can offer a new technology roadmap for micro/nanopatterns of two-dimensional (2D) materials, which depends on the deterministic regulation of mechanical instability-induced self-assemblies. However, due to atomic thinness and ultra-low bending stiffness, different types of non-designable and non-deterministic multimode coupling mechanical instabilities, such as multimode-coupled crumpling, chaotic thermal-fluctuation-induced rippling, and unpredictable wrinkling, are extremely easy to be triggered in 2D materials. The above mode-coupled instabilities make it exceedingly difficult to controllably self-assemble 2D nanocrystals into designed morphologies. In this chapters, we will introduce a novel micro/nanopatterning technology of 2D materials based on mechanical self-assemblies. Firstly, a post-curing transfer strategy is proposed to fabricate multiscale conformal wrinkle micro/nanostructures of 2D materials. Secondly, we report a deterministic self-assembly for programmable micro/nanopatterning technology of atomically thin 2D materials via constructing novel 2D materials/IML/substrate trilayer systems. Finally, based on the micro/nanopatterning technology of 2D materials, we proposed a new fabrication method for the flexible micro/nano-electronics of deterministically self-assembled 2D materials including three-dimensional (3D) tactile and gesture sensors. We fundamentally overcome the key problem of self-assembly manipulation from randomness to determinism mode by decoupling mono-mode mechanical instability, providing new opportunities for programmable micro/nanopatterns of 2D materials. Moreover, mechanical instability-driven micro/nanopatterning technology enables simpler fabrication methods of self-assembled electronics based on 2D materials.