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Abstract The exploration of emerging quantum phenomena by stacking dissimilar atomic layered materials into van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures has driven the development of layer assembly techniques. Achieving ultralow disorder within these heterostructures is crucial for unlocking their novel physical properties. However, current fabrication methods for designer heterostructures have limitations in throughput, yield, and scalability. Over the past decade, engineering toolkits have evolved to address some of these challenges, but their adoption for fabricating designer heterostructures remains limited. In this review, an overview of these emerging engineering toolkits is provided, and examine their utility and limitations in achieving ultralow disordered heterostructures. It is hoped that the insights from this review article can help guide future research directions on advancing the fabrication process of designer heterostructures. 

Abstract The proliferation of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures formed by stacking layered materials can accelerate scientific and technological advances. Here, we report a strategy for constructing vdW heterostructures through the interface engineering of the exfoliation substrate using a sub-5 nm polymeric film. Our construction method has two main features that distinguish it from existing techniques. First is the consistency of its exfoliation process in increasing the yield and in producing large (>10,000 μm²) monolayer graphene. Second is the applicability of its layer transfer process to different layered materials without requiring a specialized stamp—a feature useful for generalizing the assembly process. We demonstrate vdW graphene devices with peak carrier mobility of 200,000 and 800,000 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹at room temperature and 9 K, respectively. The simplicity of our construction method and its versatility to different layered materials may open doors for automating the fabrication process of vdW heterostructures.