Lithography-free and high-efficiency preparation of black phosphorous devices by direct evaporation through shadow mask

Two-dimensional (2D) materials including black phosphorus (BP) have been extensively investigated because of their exotic physical properties and potential applications in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. Fabricating BP based devices is challenging because BP is extremely sensitive to the external environment, especially to the chemical contamination during the lithography process. The direct evaporation through shadow mask technique is a clean method for lithography-free electrode patterning of 2D materials. Herein, we employ the lithography-free evaporation method for the construction of BP based field-effect transistors and photodetectors and systematically compare their performances with those of BP counterparts fabricated by conventional lithography and transfer electrode methods. The results show that BP devices fabricated by direct evaporation method possess higher mobility, faster response time, and smaller hysteresis than those prepared by the latter two methods. This can be attributed to the clean interface between BP and evaporated-electrodes as well as the lower Schottky barrier height of 20.2 meV, which is given by the temperature-dependent electrical results. Furthermore, the BP photodetectors exhibit a broad-spectrum response and polarization sensitivity. Our work elucidates a universal, low-cost and high-efficiency method to fabricate BP devices for optoelectronic applications.

Automated summary

In this study, a lithography-free evaporation method was used to fabricate devices based on black phosphorus (BP). Compared to conventional lithography and transfer electrode methods, BP devices fabricated by this method demonstrated higher mobility, faster response time, and smaller hysteresis. Moreover, BP photodetectors exhibited broad-spectrum response and polarization sensitivity.