An open-source robust machine learning platform for real-time detection and classification of 2D material flakes

arXiv (Cornell University), vol. 5

Abstract

The most widely used method for obtaining high-quality two-dimensional materials is through mechanical exfoliation of bulk crystals. Manual identification of suitable flakes from the resulting random distribution of crystal thicknesses and sizes on a substrate is a time-consuming, tedious task. Here, we present a platform for fully automated scanning, detection, and classification of two-dimensional materials, the source code of which we make openly available. Our platform is designed to be accurate, reliable, fast, and versatile in integrating new materials, making it suitable for everyday laboratory work. The implementation allows fully automated scanning and analysis of wafers with an average inference time of 100 ms for images of 2.3 Mpixels. The developed detection algorithm is based on a combination of the flakes' optical contrast toward the substrate and their geometric shape. We demonstrate that it is able to detect the majority of exfoliated flakes of various materials, with an average recall (AR50) between 67% and 89%. We also show that the algorithm can be trained with as few as five flakes of a given material, which we demonstrate for the examples of few-layer graphene, WSe$_2$, MoSe$_2$, CrI$_3$, 1T-TaS$_2$ and hexagonal BN. Our platform has been tested over a two-year period, during which more than $10^6$ images of multiple different materials were acquired by over 30 individual researchers.

Authors 10

1. Jan-Lucas Uslu Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Taoufiq Ouaj Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. David Tebbe Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. Jo Henri Bertram Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

5. Marc Schütte Aachen Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

6. Kenji Watanabe

   National Institute for Materials Science

   Affiliation as printed

   Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials , National Institute for Materials Science , 1-1 Namiki , Tsukuba 305-0044 , Japan

   Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan

7. Takashi Taniguchi

   National Institute for Materials Science

   Affiliation as printed

   Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics , National Institute for Materials Science , 1-1 Namiki , Tsukuba 305-0044 , Japan

   Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan

8. Bernd Beschoten Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT JARA-FIT Institute for Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   JARA-FIT Institute for Quantum Information , Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and

   JARA-FIT Institute for Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

9. Lutz Waldecker Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

   ) Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

10. Christoph Stampfer Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT

    Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    2nd Institute of Physics and JARA-FIT , RWTH Aachen University , 52074 Aachen , Germany

    Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-9 ) Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich , Germany

    Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-