Stress-induced selective-area lift-off of thin films and devices on van der Waals buffer layers

A method for making a selective-area lift-off thin film comprises depositing a van der Waals (vdW) buffer on a substrate; depositing a thin film material (or device structure) on the van der Waals buffer; depositing an adhesion layer on the thin film material; forming a stressor layer on top of the thin film layer; and bonding a handle layer to the stressor layer. Force may be applied to the layered structure by one or more of rolling, bending, and shearing. The area selected for lift-off may be defined by one of laser cutting and mechanical scribing. The vdW buffer includes one or more of hBN, graphite, and graphene. The handle layer is a one of a polyimide tape, thermal release tape, UV release tape, water- or solvent-soluble tape, Kapton tape, and Scotch tape. The stressor layer is a metal film, e.g. Ni, Cr, Ti.