MICAtronics: A new platform for flexible X-tronics

In the present era of Internet-of-Things, the demand for flexible, light-weight, low-cost, low-power consumption, multifunctional, and environmentally friendly electronics has moved to the forefront of materials science research. Numerous compounds with unique material properties in epitaxial thin film form hold key to future technologies. van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) involving two-dimensional layered materials can play a crucial role in the expansion of thin film epitaxy by overcoming the bottleneck of material combinations due to lattice/thermal matching conditions inherent to conventional epitaxy. Among the layered materials, mica is a well-known phyllosilicate mineral that can have a remarkable impact on flexible electronics. We confine ourselves to the validity of vdWE of functional oxides on muscovite mica throughout this treatise. These heterostructures with excellent properties are flexible and exhibit high-temperature stability. With such demonstrations, it is anticipated that MICAtronics, vdWE on mica, can reveal unusual properties and emergent phenomena in the realm of high-performance flexible device applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.