Large area epitaxial germanane for electronic devices

We report the synthesis and transfer of epitaxial germanane (GeH) onto arbitrary substrates by electrochemical delamination and investigate its optoelectronic properties. GeH films with thickness ranging from 1 to 600 nm (2-1000 layers) and areas up to ∼1 cm² have been reliably transferred and characterized by photoluminescence, x-ray diffraction, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Wavelength dependent photoconductivity measurements on few-layer GeH exhibit an absorption edge and provide a sensitive characterization tool for ultrathin germanane materials. The transfer process also enables the possibility of integrating germanane into vertically stacked heterostructures.