Induced fit growth of Ga-based semiconductor thin films for brain-inspired electronics and optoelectronics

Zixu Sa; Kepeng Song; You Meng; Wenfeng Wu; Zhaocong Wang; Pengsheng Li; Jie Zhang; Zeqi Zang; Guangcan Wang; Mingxu Wang; Zhitai Jia; Yang Tan; Weifeng Li; SenPo Yip; Feng Chen; Johnny C. Ho; Zai-xing Yang

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02096-2

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Induced fit growth of Ga-based semiconductor thin films for brain-inspired electronics and optoelectronics

Original Articles

- Induced fit growth of Ga-based semiconductor thin films for brain-inspired electronics and optoelectronics
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 4, Pages: 1182-1193(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, China
  2.School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China
  3.Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
  4.Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  5.State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Author bio：
  
  Weifeng Li (lwf@sdu.edu.cn)
  Feng Chen (drfchen@sdu.edu.cn)
  Johnny C. Ho (johnnyho@cityu.edu.hk)
  Zai-xing Yang (zaixyang@sdu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02096-2
  CLC：
- Received：19 May 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-09-16，
  
  Accepted：11 October 2025，
  
  Online First：04 February 2026，
  
  Published：30 April 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Sa, Z. X. et al. Induced fit growth of Ga-based semiconductor thin films for brain-inspired electronics and optoelectronics. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1182-1193 (2026).
DOI：

Sa, Z. X. et al. Induced fit growth of Ga-based semiconductor thin films for brain-inspired electronics and optoelectronics. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1182-1193 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02096-2.

摘要

Abstract

Current crystalline thin-film production techniques typically require specific growth substrates

posing significant challenges for their use in flexible electronics and integrated optoelectronics. In response to these challenges

we introduce a novel method called 'induced fit growth'

inspired by the induced fit theory in molecular biology. This method overcomes the limitations of current techniques by enabling the deposition of Ga-based semiconductor films

including GaSb

GaSe

GaAs

and GaAsSb

with controllable thickness and morphology on arbitrary substrates. Utilizing a low-cost

wafer-scale vapor deposition process compatible with standard semiconductor procedures

these Ga-based films can be patterned for various functional applications. For example

the patterned Ga-based thin films exhibit broad applicability in p-channel transistor arrays (with hole mobility of 0.25 cm

V⁻

s⁻

)

functional synaptic devices

and flexible omnidirectional imaging sensors (maintaining functionality at incident angles as low as 5°). Overall

the proposed induced fit growth method facilitates the growth of Ga-based semiconductor films with greater integration flexibility

enhancing their advanced functionality and broad applicability.

关键词

Keywords

references

Kim, K. S. et al. Non-epitaxial single-crystal 2D material growth by geometric confinement. Nature 614 , 88–94 (2023)..

Liu, C. et al. Understanding epitaxial growth of two-dimensional materials and their homostructures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 19 , 907–918 (2024)..

Wang, J. M. et al. Group-Ⅲ nitride heteroepitaxial films approaching bulk-class quality. Nat. Mater. 22 , 853–859 (2023)..

Li, T. T. et al. Epitaxial growth of wafer-scale molybdenum disulfide semiconductor single crystals on sapphire. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16 , 1201–1207 (2021)..

Zhang, X. Q. et al. Epitaxial growth of large-scale 2D CrTe 2 films on amorphous silicon wafers with low thermal budget. Adv. Mater. 36 , 2311591 (2024)..

Haggren, T., Tan, H. H. & Jagadish, C. Ⅲ–Ⅴ thin films for flexible, cost-effective, and emerging applications in optoelectronics and photonics. Acc. Mater. Res. 4 , 1046–1056 (2023)..

Lien, M. B. et al. Ranging and light field imaging with transparent photodetectors. Nat. Photonics 14 , 143–148 (2020)..

Morteza Najarian, A. et al. Photophysical properties of materials for high-speed photodetection. Nat. Rev. Phys. 6 , 219–230 (2024)..

Du, B. C. et al. A water-resistant, ultrathin, conformable organic photodetector for vital sign monitoring. Sci. Adv. 10 , eadp2679 (2024)..

Shim, H. et al. An elastic and reconfigurable synaptic transistor based on a stretchable bilayer semiconductor. Nat. Electron. 5 , 660–671 (2022)..

Li, Q. T. et al. Transparent multispectral photodetectors mimicking the human visual system. Nat. Commun. 10 , 4982 (2019)..

Zhang, Z. F. et al. In-sensor reservoir computing system for latent fingerprint recognition with deep ultraviolet photo-synapses and memristor array. Nat. Commun. 13 , 6590 (2022)..

Memon, M. H. et al. A three-terminal light emitting and detecting diode. Nat. Electron. 7 , 279–287 (2024)..

Jia, H. Q. et al. Recent progress in GaN-based light-emitting diodes. Adv. Mater. 21 , 4641–4646 (2009)..

Late, D. J. et al. GaS and GaSe ultrathin layer transistors. Adv. Mater. 24 , 3549–3554 (2012)..

Wang, P. et al. Arrayed van der Waals broadband detectors for dual-band detection. Adv. Mater. 29 , 1604439 (2017)..

Convertino, C. et al. A hybrid Ⅲ–Ⅴ tunnel FET and MOSFET technology platform integrated on silicon. Nat. Electron. 4 , 162–170 (2021)..

Li, J. et al. Template approach to large-area non-layered Ga-group two-dimensional crystals from printed skin of liquid Gallium. Chem. Mater. 33 , 4568–4577 (2021)..

Schulte, K. L. et al. GaAs solar cells grown on acoustically spalled GaAs substrates with 27% efficiency. Joule 7 , 1529–1542 (2023)..

Kang, S. et al. Highly enhanced ferroelectricity in HfO 2 -based ferroelectric thin film by light ion bombardment. Science 376 , 731–738 (2022)..

Kang, J. S. et al. Integration of boron arsenide cooling substrates into gallium nitride devices. Nat. Electron. 4 , 416–423 (2021)..

Yan, R. S. et al. GaN/NbN epitaxial semiconductor/superconductor heterostructures. Nature 555 , 183–189 (2018)..

Manzo, S. et al. Pinhole-seeded lateral epitaxy and exfoliation of GaSb films on graphene-terminated surfaces. Nat. Commun. 13 , 4014 (2022)..

Zhao, T. G. et al. Substrate engineering for wafer-scale two-dimensional material growth: strategies, mechanisms, and perspectives. Chem. Soc. Rev. 52 , 1650–1671 (2023)..

Wang, J. H. et al. Dual-coupling-guided epitaxial growth of wafer-scale single-crystal WS 2 monolayer on vicinal a -plane sapphire. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17 , 33–38 (2022)..

Chen, Y. X. et al. Universal growth of ultra-thin Ⅲ–Ⅴ semiconductor single crystals. Nat. Commun. 11 , 3979 (2020)..

Koshland, D. E. The key–lock theory and the induced fit theory. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 33 , 2375–2378 (1995)..

Neubig, R. R. & Thomsen, W. J. How does a key fit a flexible lock? Structure and dynamics in receptor function. BioEssays 11 , 136–141 (1989)..

Zavabeti, A. et al. A liquid metal reaction environment for the room-temperature synthesis of atomically thin metal oxides. Science 358 , 332–335 (2017)..

Castilla-Amorós, L. et al. Modulating the reactivity of liquid Ga nanoparticle inks by modifying their surface chemistry. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144 , 1993–2001 (2022)..

Kochat, V. et al. Atomically thin gallium layers from solid-melt exfoliation. Sci. Adv. 4 , e1701373 (2018)..

Liu, F. J. et al. Lattice-mismatch-free construction of Ⅲ-V/chalcogenide core-shell heterostructure nanowires. Nat. Commun. 14 , 7480 (2023)..

Sa, Z. et al. Toward high bias-stress stability p-type GaSb nanowire field-effect-transistor for gate-controlled near-infrared photodetection and photocommunication. Adv. Funct. Mater. 33 , 2304064 (2023)..

Hou, X. H. et al. High-performanceharsh-environment-resistant GaO x solar-blind photodetectors via defect and doping engineering. Adv. Mater. 34 , 2106923 (2022)..

Shi, Y. H. et al. High-performance a-ITZO TFTs w ith high bias stability enabled by self-aligned passivation using a-GaO x . Appl. Phys. Lett. 121 , 212101 (2022)..

Syed, N. et al. Wafer-sized ultrathin Gallium and Indium Nitride nanosheets through the ammonolysis of liquid metal derived oxides. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141 , 104–108 (2019)..

Carey, B. J. et al. Wafer-scale two-dimensional semiconductors from printed oxide skin of liquid metals. Nat. Commun. 8 , 14482 (2017)..

Meng, Y. et al. An inorganic-blended p-type semiconductor with robust electrical and mechanical properties. Nat. Commun. 15 , 4440 (2024)..

Meng, Y. et al. Van der Waals nanomesh electronics on arbitrary surfaces. Nat. Commun. 14 , 2431 (2023)..

Wang, S. Y. et al. A MoS 2 /PTCDA hybrid heterojunction synapse with efficient photoelectric dual modulation and versatility. Adv. Mater. 31 , 1806227 (2019)..

Dang, Z. Y. et al. Black phosphorus/ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) field-effect transistors with high mobility for energy-efficient artificial synapse in high-accuracy neuromorphic co mputing. Nano Lett. 23 , 6752–6759 (2023)..

Xu, T. F. et al. Van der Waals mid-wavelength infrared detector linear array for room temperature passive imaging. Sci. Adv. 10 , eadn0560 (2024)..

Wang, F. et al. How to characterize figures of merit of two-dimensional photodetectors. Nat. Commun. 14 , 2224 (2023)..

Wang, H. Y. et al. Approaching the external quantum efficiency limit in 2D photovoltaic devices. Adv. Mater. 34 , 2206122 (2022)..

Zhong, M. Z. et al. Gate controllable band alignment transition in 2D black-arsenic/WSe 2 heterostructure. Appl. Phys. Rev. 10 , 021416 (2023)..

Teng, F. et al. Photoelectric detectors based on inorganic p-type semiconductor materials. Adv. Mater. 30 , 1706262 (2018)..

Wu, W. Q. et al. Flexible photodetector arrays based on patterned CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3− x Cl x perovskite film for real-time photosensing and imaging. Adv. Mater. 31 , 1805913 (2019)..

Qin, B. et al. Interfacial Epitaxy of multilayer rhombohedral transition-metal dichalcogenide single crystals. Science 385 , 99–104 (2024)..

Zhu, H. Y. et al. Step engineering for nucleation and domain orientation control in WSe 2 epitaxy on c -plane sapphire. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18 , 1295–1302 (2023)..

Xue, G. D. et al. Modularized batch production of 12-inch transition metal dichalcogenides by local element supply. Sci. Bull. 68 , 1514–1521 (2023)..

Liu, L. et al. Uniform nucleation and epitaxy of bilayer molybdenum disulfide on sapphire. Nature 605 , 69–75 (2022)..

Liu, L. et al. Homoepitaxial growth of large-area rhombohedral-stacked MoS 2 . Nat. Mater. 24 , 1195–1202, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02274-y (2025)..

Wu, D. et al. Phase-controlled van der Waals growth of wafer-scale 2D MoTe 2 layers for integrated high-sensitivity broadband infrared photodetection. Light Sci. Appl. 12 , 5 (2023)..

Patapis, S. K. Two thermomagnetic effects and the electronic thermal conductivity in p-GaSb. Solid State Commun. 46 , 527–529 (1983)..

Yan, Y. C. et al. Achieving high power factor in GaSb with intrinsically high mobility via Ge doping. Rare Met. 43 , 5435–5441 (2024)..

Kim, C. E. et al. Thermoelectric properties of Zn-doped GaSb. J. Appl. Phys. 111 , 043704 (2012)..

Yoon, J. et al. GaAs photovoltaics and optoelectronics using releasable multilayer epitaxial assemblies. Nature 465 , 329–333 (2010)..

Polman, A. et al. Photovoltaic materials: present efficiencies and future challenges. Science 352 , aad4424 (2016)..

Li, W. H. et al. Emergence of ferroelectricity in a nonferroelectric monolayer. Nat. Commun. 14 , 2757 (2023)..

Das, S. et al. Nanoscale thickness octave-spanning coherent supercontinuum light generation. Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 41 (2025)..

Kresse, G. & Furthmüller, J. Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set. Comput. Mater. Sci. 6 , 15–50 (1996)..

Perdew, J. P., Burke, K. & Ernzerhof, M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 , 3865–3868 (1996)..

Grimme, S. Semiempirical GGA-type density functional constructed with a long-range dispersion correction. J. Comput. Chem. 27 , 1787–1799 (2006)..

Hoover, W. G. Canonical dynamics: equilibrium phase-space distributions. Phys. Rev. A 31 , 1695–1697 (1985)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰