This talk will present my (admittedly biased) perspective of what two-dimensional (2D) materials could be good for. For example, they may be good for applications where their ultrathin nature and lack of dangling bonds give them distinct advantages, such as flexible electronics [1] or DNA-sorting nanopores [2]. They may not be good for applications where conventional materials work well, like in transistors thicker than a few nanometers. I will focus on the case of 2D materials for 3D heterogeneous integration of electronics, which presents significant advantages for energy-efficient computing [3]. In this context, 2D materials could be monolayer transistors with ultralow leakage [4] (taking advantage of larger band gaps than silicon), used as access devices for high-density data storage [5]. For example, recent results from our group have shown monolayer transistors with record performance [6,7], which cannot be achieved with sub-nanometer thin conventional semiconductors. I will also describe some less conventional applications, using 2D materials as highly efficient thermal insulators [8] and as thermal transistors [9]. These could enable control of heat in “thermal circuits” analogous with electrical circuits. Combined, these studies reveal fundamental limits and some unusual applications of 2D materials, which take advantage of their unique properties.

Prof. Eric Pop is the Pease-Ye Professor of Electrical Engineering (EE) and Materials Science & Engineering (by courtesy) at Stanford, where he leads the SystemX Heterogeneous Integration focus area. His research interests include nanoelectronics, data storage, and energy. Before Stanford, he spent several years on the faculty of UIUC, and in industry at Intel and IBM. He received his PhD in EE from Stanford (2005) and three degrees from MIT in EE and Physics. His honors include the Intel Outstanding Researcher Award, the PECASE from the White House, and Young Investigator Awards from the Navy, Air Force, DARPA, and NSF CAREER. He is an APS and IEEE Fellow, an Editor of 2D Materials, and a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. In his spare time he enjoys snowboarding and tennis, and in a past life he was a college radio DJ at KZSU 90.1. More information about the Pop Lab is available at http://poplab.stanford.edu and on Twitter @profericpop.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birck Nanotechnology Center

1. A. Daus et al., Nature Elec. 4, 495 (2021)
2. J. Shim et al. Nanoscale 9, 14836 (2017)
3. M. Aly et al., Computer 48, 24 (2015)
4. C. Bailey et al., EMC (2019)
5. A. Khan et al. Science 373, 1243 (2021)
6. C. English et al., IEDM, Dec 2016
7. C. McClellan et al. ACS Nano 15, 1587 (2021)
8. S. Vaziri et al., Science Adv. 5, eaax1325 (2019)
9. A. Sood et al. Nature Comm. 9, 4510 (2018)

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Eric Pop (2024), "What Are 2D Materials Good For?," https://nanohub.org/resources/38830.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. 2D materials and devices
2. Dennard’s Law
3. heterogeneous integration & advanced packaging
4. materials science
5. mobility
6. monolayer MoS2
7. MoS2
8. SCALE@Purdue
9. SCALE (Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement)
10. transistors