The process is said to allow the integration of piezoelectric components directly onto silicon chips. Until now, no 2D piezoelectric material has been manufactured in large sheets, making it impossible to integrate into silicon chips or use in large-scale surface manufacturing, the researchers say.
This limitation meant that piezo accelerometer devices have required separate, expensive components to be embedded onto silicon substrates, adding significant manufacturing costs.
Now, the researchers have demonstrated a method to produce large-scale 2D gallium phosphate (GaPO4) sheets, allowing this material to be formed at large scales in low-cost, low-temperature manufacturing processes onto silicon substrates, or any other surface.