Wafer-scale black phosphorus film synthesis on arbitrary substrates enabled by van der Waals layer passivation

Black phosphorus (BP) has emerged as a highly promising material for next-generation electronics and optoelectronics because of its exceptional properties. However, the large-scale synthesis of high-quality BP films on various functional substrates remains a great challenge. Here, we report a universal van der Waals (vdW) layer passivation strategy that enables the synthesis of wafer-scale high-quality BP films on arbitrary substrates (Si, SiO ₂ , SiC, GaN, sapphire, quartz, etc.). The atomic-thick passivation layer effectively eliminates the dangling bonds of the substrates and thus mitigates the effects of the substrates on BP growth by forming a vdW layer for BP nucleation and growth, thereby enabling substrate-independent synthesis of high-quality BP films via vdW epitaxy. The resulting BP films exhibit inch-scale uniformity, a high carrier mobility of ~1100 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature, and excellent electronic performance across diverse substrates. Our work provides a versatile platform for integrating high-mobility 2D materials with conventional semiconductor technologies, thus opening new frontiers for heterostructure-based devices.