New technique for building ultra-thin material stacks promises quantum breakthrough

Scientists from the University of Southampton and the National University of Singapore announced a new fabrication technique for ultra-clean manufacturing of two-dimensional heterostructures on July 14, 2026. The research, published in Nature Communications, was developed in collaboration between the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials at the National University of Singapore and the University of Southampton. Current manufacturing methods rely on sticky synthetic polymers to assemble atomic layers, which often leave microscopic residues that contaminate structures and disrupt device performance. The research team instead used the natural mineral muscovite, or mica, to stack the atomically thin materials together. Findings showed that replacing polymers with mica makes the material atomically flat and offers better surfaces for precisely stacking atomic layers. Lead author Dr. Makars Šiškins, a lecturer in experimental physics at the University of Southampton, said the new method makes assembly both cleaner and cheaper. He said the method allows precise alignment of layers to create complex structures that were previously too hard to make. Co-lead Professor Alexey Berdyugin from the National University of Singapore said building atomic stacks without contamination is a major challenge in nanotechnology. He said mica avoids many contamination issues that plague conventional methods because it is an inorganic crystal rather than a soft polymer.