Thermal engineering of interface adhesion for efficient transfer of CVD-grown TMDs

The numerous advantages of growing two-dimensional materials via chemical vapor deposition have ignited increasing interest within both industrial and academic communities. However, transferring large, defect-free areas remains a significant challenge to fully realize their technological potential. Various methods either exploit specific characteristics of a material, are technically complex, or require expensive equipment. Here, we present a method that simplifies and enhances transfer versatility, addressing the cost-effectiveness, adaptability, and yield limitations of conventional methods. Our approach leverages gentle heating of the substrate to weaken the adhesion between the two-dimensional material and the substrate. The role of thermal fluctuations is described by a theoretical model based on the elastic properties of the material and the interface adhesion energy. Our method works for three of the most common materials and scales up to mm2. Comparison of optical properties between transferred and as-grown material confirms the quality of our dry transfer method.