Van der Waals integration permits novel hetero-integrated photonic devices and flexible optical applications

Today, electronic and photonic devices are ubiquitous in smart phones, computers, light sources, sensors, and communications. To underpin the demand for optoelectronic applications, functional materials are essential. For instance, silicon is required for logic computing and photonic integrated circuits (PIC); group III-V semiconductors (such as GaAs, InP, AlN, etc.) are used for optoelectronic, light-emitting and photodetection applications; and piezoelectric materials are used for actuators and sensors.