27 March 2015

Kyma launches 2D MoS2 materials and crystal growth tool product lines

Kyma Technologies Inc of Raleigh, NC, USA (which provides crystalline nitride materials, crystal growth and fabrication equipment, and power switching electronics) has launched crystalline two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) materials and growth tools as a key new product line.

Crystalline 2D MoS2 materials fall in the family of crystalline 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), which are atomically thin semiconductors that are being explored worldwide for their potential to support future applications including flexible electronics and flexible optoelectronics.

Kyma recently won support from the US Air Force to develop the capability to fabricate large-diameter high-quality crystalline 2D MoS2 materials. More recently, it won support from the US Army to incorporate those materials into radio frequency (RF) electronics. Both of those projects are progressing and have enabled Kyma to begin offering crystalline 2D MoS2 materials to the market.

Kyma says that it uses a novel 2D crystal growth tool to grow crystalline 2D MoS2 materials. The tool was designed by the firm and features the ability to explore different source chemistries in support of the growth of a variety of different 2D crystalline materials (e.g. MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, WTe2). To date, Kyma has deposited over 100 MoS2 films, experimenting with growth conditions and surface preparation approaches. Its effort is supported by an in-house modelling effort and a close collaboration with professor Joshua Robinson's group at Pennsylvania State University's Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials (which was was established in 2012).

Kyma's MoS2 materials include regions with single-monolayer crystallites and multiple-monolayer crystallites, based on well-established Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence characterization methods.

The firm's initial efforts use 2"-diameter substrates and have focused on nucleation and growth of large-area single-monolayer MoS2 crystalline grains. So far the highest-quality triangular crystallites are located in a narrow region of the wafer; enhanced deposition uniformity as well as novel source chemistries will be emphasized in the coming months.

"We have come a long way, from initial collaboration discussions with Josh Robinson of Penn State, to partnering with Josh and transitioning one of his WS2 growth processes to Kyma (as announced previously) and extending it to larger diameter, to winning Air Force and Army support and producing our own materials," says president & CEO Keith Evans. "Our overall approach to the tool and process for growing MoS2 has been to reproduce best practices established in academia and to translate that to a commercially robust yet flexible prototype crystal growth tool," he adds.

"These materials will continue to evolve, yet their characteristics are already exciting enough to begin supplying them to next-generation device scientists and engineers," Evans continues. "We are offering steep discounts to those customers who will help us understand our materials better and provide feedback on how we might further engineer their properties."

Tags: Kyma Molybdenum disulfide CVD

Visit: www.kymatech.com

Visit: www.mri.psu.edu/centers/2dlm