We report the preparation of thickness-controlled few-layer black phosphorus (BP) films through the modulated plasma treatment of BP flakes. Not only does the plasma treatment control the thickness of the BP film, it also removes the chemical degradation of the exposed oxidized BP surface, which results in enhanced field-effect transistor (FET) performance. Our fabricated BP FETs were passivated with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) immediately after the plasma etching process. With these techniques, a high field-effect mobility was achieved, 1150 cm(2)/(V s), with an Ion/Ioff ratio of ∼10(5) at room temperature. Furthermore, a fabricated FET with plasma-treated few-layer BP that was passivated with PMMA was found to retain its I-V characteristics and thus to exhibit excellent environmental stability over several weeks.
Keywords: 2-D material; 2-D thickness control; black phosphorus; environmental stability; plasma etching.