“Our inkjet printing demonstration makes possible for the first time the scalable mass fabrication of black phosphorus based photonic and optoelectronic devices with the long-term stability necessary for a wide range of industrial applications,” said Professor Zhipei Sun from Aalto University.
Black phosphorus is said to be of particularly interest for use in next generation photonic and optoelectronic devices. Yet, despite its performance in the lab, its application has been hindered by complex material fabrication and poor environmental stability.
The researchers demonstrated the benefits of their approach by inkjet printing devices that take advantage of black phosphorus’ semiconducting bandgap. The team also showed that black phosphorus could act as an efficient and responsive detector of light, extending the wavelength range over which silicon-based photodetectors can operate.
The team also showed that black phosphorus ink can be integrated with existing CMOS technologies and believes the inkjet printing technique can be used to create materials featuring multiple nanomaterial layers.
The ink was developed by researchers from Aalto University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College and Beihang University.
Pic and video: University of Cambridge