During the past decade, two-dimensional materials have attracted incredible interest from the electronic device community. The first two-dimensional material studied in detail was graphene and, since 2007, it has intensively been explored as a material for electronic devices, in particular, transistors. While graphene transistors are still on the agenda, researchers have extended their work to two-dimensional materials beyond graphene and the number of two-dimensional materials under examination has literally exploded recently. Meanwhile several hundreds of different two-dimensional materials are known, a substantial part of them is considered useful for transistors, and experimental transistors with channels of different two-dimensional materials have been demonstrated. In spite of the rapid progress in the field, the prospects of two-dimensional transistors still remain vague and optimistic opinions face rather reserved assessments. The intention of the present paper is to shed more light on the merits and drawbacks of two-dimensional materials for transistor electronics and to add a few more facets to the ongoing discussion on the prospects of two-dimensional transistors. To this end, we compose a wish list of properties for a good transistor channel material and examine to what extent the two-dimensional materials fulfill the criteria of the list. The state-of-the-art two-dimensional transistors are reviewed and a balanced view of both the pros and cons of these devices is provided.

With the increasing requirements for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) regarding stability, miniaturization and integration, novel materials such as wide band gap semiconductors are attracting more attention. Polycrystalline SiC has first been implemented into Si micromachining techniques, mainly as etch stop and protective layers. However, the outstanding properties of wide band gap semiconductors offer many more possibilities for the implementation of new functionalities. Now, a variety of technologies for SiC and group III nitrides exist to fabricate fully wide band gap semiconductor based MEMS. In this paper we first review the basic technology (deposition and etching) for group III nitrides and SiC with a special focus on the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures relevant for MEMS. The basic operation principle for MEMS with wide band gap semiconductors is described. Finally, the first applications of SiC based MEMS are demonstrated, and innovative MEMS and NEMS devices are reviewed.

We report on the phase stabilization of rhombohedral (rh-) In 2 O 3 films on sapphire substrate deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. With the help of a high-temperature nucleation layer and evolutionary structural selection of rhombohedral phase during the growth process, stable epitaxial growth of single crystalline rh-In 2 O 3 is achieved. The mechanism of phase selective epitaxial growth is studied by means of high-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements. Furthermore, Raman spectroscopy measurements are carried out to investigate the phonon properties of rh-In 2 O 3 . Raman-active phonon modes of rh-In 2 O 3 are first identified.

Phase selective growth of rhombohedral and cubic indium oxide polytypes was studied. The selective growth of different polytypes was achieved by adjusting substrate temperature and trimethylindium flow rate during metal organic chemical vapor deposition on c-plane sapphire. The optical band gaps of the cubic and rhombohedral phases were determined to be ∼3.7 and ∼3.0eV, respectively. On the basis of the performed structural investigations, a phenomenological model of the nucleation and growth of highly textured cubic In2O3 on Al2O3 (0001) is proposed.

Thin AlO x films were grown on 4H-SiC by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma assisted electron-beam evaporation at 300˚C. After deposition, the films were annealed in nitrogen at temperatures between 500˚C and 1050˚C. The films were analyzed by X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to determine film thickness, surface roughness and density of the AlO x layer. No differences were found in the behavior of AlO x films upon annealing for the two different employed deposition techniques. Annealing results in film densification, which is most prominent above the crystallization temperature (800˚C). In addition to the increasing density, a mass loss of ~5% was determined and attributed to the presence of aluminum oxyhydroxide in as deposited films. All changes in film properties after high temperature annealing appear to be independent of the deposition technique.

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Wide-bandgap semiconductors represent an attractive option to meet the increasing demands of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) by offering new functionalities, high stability, biocompatibility and the potential for miniaturization and integration. Here, we report on resonant MEMS and NEMS devices with functional layers of SiC, AlN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on different substrates, which have been investigated and analysed in the course of an interdisciplinary research focus programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG). The specific deposition and etching technologies necessary for the three-dimensional micro-structuring are explained. Further, the implementation of appropriate electromechanical transduction schemes is discussed. In case of SiC and AlN resonators, actuation and sensing was achieved by a magnetomotive scheme. A piezoelectric coupling scheme where the counter electrode is formed by the two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of the III/V heterostructure was realized for the AlGaN/GaN resonators. Thus, flexural and longitudinal vibration modes were excited and characterized using electrical and optical techniques. The measured key parameters of resonant frequency and quality factor are related to geometry, material and environmental parameters using analytical and finite element (FE) models. Finally, potential sensor applications are experimentally investigated

Single crystalline tungsten nanowires were prepared from directionally solidified NiAl-W alloys by a chemical release from the resulting binary phase material. Electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) proves that they are single crystals having identical crystallographic orientation. Mechanical investigations such as bending tests, lateral force measurements, and mechanical resonance measurements were performed on 100–300 nm diameter wires. The wires could be either directly employed using micro tweezers, as a singly clamped nanowire or in a doubly clamped nanobridge. The mechanical tests exhibit a surprisingly high flexibility for such a brittle material resulting from the small dimensions. Force displacement measurements on singly clamped W nanowires by an AFM measurement allowed the determination of a Young's modulus of 332 GPa very close to the bulk value of 355 GPa. Doubly clamped W nanowires were employed as resonant oscillating nanowires in a magnetomotively driven resonator running at 117 kHz. The Young's modulus determined from this setup was found to be higher 450 GPa which is likely to be an artefact resulting from the shift of the resonance frequency by an additional mass loading.