Suzhou Laboratory’s Research Achievement Published in 《Science》

Recently, a research team led by Wang Xinran and Ding Feng from Suzhou Laboratory pioneered a "stone-to-crystal" technique using rare-earth elements to modify sapphire substrates, achieving a global breakthrough in the mass production of 6-inch single-crystal transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors. Their study, titled "Robust Epitaxy of Single-Crystal Transition Metal Dichalcogenides on Lanthanum-Passivated Sapphire," was published online in Science on October 23, 2025.

The team developed an innovative surface modification technique, constructing a lanthanum monolayer on the sapphire substrate. This atomic-layer engineering breaks the intrinsic symmetry of the sapphire surface, fundamentally addressing the challenge of scalable synthesis of single-crystal 2D semiconductors. Using industry-compatible metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and La-passivated sapphire wafers, the team successfully demonstrated universal growth of 6-inch single-crystal TMDC wafers, including MoS₂, WS₂, WSe₂, and MoSe₂. Extensive spectroscopic and electrical characterizations confirmed exceptional material quality and uniformity, with average carrier mobilities reaching 110 cm²·V^-1·s^-1 for MoS₂ and 131 cm²·V^-1·s^-1 for WSe₂. This achievement sets a new benchmark in combining large-scale growth with high performance.

The breakthrough represents a critical step toward the industrialization of 2D semiconductors, laying a material foundation for their application in next-generation integrated circuits, displays, sensors, and beyond.

Figure 1. Series of 6-inch single-crystal TMDC wafers.

Paper Link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea0849