High-Throughput Evaluation of Mechanical Exfoliation Using Optical Classification of Two-Dimensional Materials

Mechanical exfoliation remains the most common method for producing high-quality two-dimensional (2D) materials, but its inherently low yield requires screening large numbers of samples to identify usable flakes. Efficient optimization of the exfoliation process demands scalable methods to analyze deposited material across extensive datasets. While machine learning clustering techniques have demonstrated ~95% accuracy in classifying 2D material thicknesses from optical microscopy images, current tools are limited by slow processing speeds and heavy reliance on manual user input. This work presents an open-source, GPU-accelerated software platform that builds upon existing classification methods to enable high-throughput analysis of 2D material samples. By leveraging parallel computation, optimizing core algorithms, and automating preprocessing steps, the software can quantify flake coverage and thickness across uncompressed optical images at scale. Benchmark comparisons show that this implementation processes over 200× more pixel data with a 60× reduction in processing time relative to the original software. Specifically, a full dataset of2916 uncompressed images can be classified in 35 min, compared to an estimated 32 h required by the baseline method using compressed images. This platform enables rapid evaluation of exfoliation results across multiple trials, providing a practical tool for optimizing deposition techniques and improving the yield of high-quality 2D materials.

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Publication Details

Journal
Micromachines
Published
2025-09-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16101084
Primary Topic
Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

High-Throughput Evaluation of Mechanical Exfoliation Using Optical Classification of Two-Dimensional Materials

Victor M. Lubecke, Anthony Gasbarro, Y. Masuda
Micromachines
Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
article

High-Throughput Evaluation of Mechanical Exfoliation Using Optical Classification of Two-Dimensional Materials

Victor M. Lubecke, Anthony Gasbarro, Y. Masuda
article en

Abstract

Mechanical exfoliation remains the most common method for producing high-quality two-dimensional (2D) materials, but its inherently low yield requires screening large numbers of samples to identify usable flakes. Efficient optimization of the exfoliation process demands scalable methods to analyze deposited material across extensive datasets. While machine learning clustering techniques have demonstrated ~95% accuracy in classifying 2D material thicknesses from optical microscopy images, current tools are limited by slow processing speeds and heavy reliance on manual user input. This work presents an open-source, GPU-accelerated software platform that builds upon existing classification methods to enable high-throughput analysis of 2D material samples. By leveraging parallel computation, optimizing core algorithms, and automating preprocessing steps, the software can quantify flake coverage and thickness across uncompressed optical images at scale. Benchmark comparisons show that this implementation processes over 200× more pixel data with a 60× reduction in processing time relative to the original software. Specifically, a full dataset of2916 uncompressed images can be classified in 35 min, compared to an estimated 32 h required by the baseline method using compressed images. This platform enables rapid evaluation of exfoliation results across multiple trials, providing a practical tool for optimizing deposition techniques and improving the yield of high-quality 2D materials.

MicromachinesVol. 16(10)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US), Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (US)
Office of Naval Research, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
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