Coherent Interlayer Tunneling and Negative Differential Resistance with High Current Density in Double Bilayer Graphene-WSe2 Heterostructures

Negative Differential Resistance Device with High Peak-to-Valley Ratio Realized by Subband Resonant Tunneling of Γ-Valley Carriers in WSe2/h-BN/WSe2 Junctions

Resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) are a core technology in III-V semiconductor devices. The realization of high-performance RTD using two-dimensional (2D) materials has been long awaited, but it has yet to be accomplished. To this end, we investigate a range of WSe2/h-BN/WSe2 RTD devices by varying the number of layers of source and drain WSe2. The highest peak-to-valley ratio (PVR) is demonstrated in the three-layer (3L) WSe2/h-BN/1-layer (1L) WSe2 structure. The observed PVR values of 63.6 at 2 K and 16.2 at 300 K are the highest among the 2D material-based RTDs reported to date. Our results indicate the two key conditions to achieve high PVR: (1) resonant tunneling should occur between the Γ-point bands of the source and drain electrodes, and (2) the Γ-point bands contributing to the resonant tunneling should be energetically separated from the other bands. Our results provide an important step to outperform III-V semiconductor RTDs with 2D material-based RTDs.

A hot-emitter transistor based on stimulated emission of heated carriers

Hot-carrier transistors are a class of devices that leverage the excess kinetic energy of carriers. Unlike regular transistors, which rely on steady-state carrier transport, hot-carrier transistors modulate carriers to high-energy states, resulting in enhanced device speed and functionality. These characteristics are essential for applications that demand rapid switching and high-frequency operations, such as advanced telecommunications and cutting-edge computing technologies1-5. However, the traditional mechanisms of hot-carrier generation are either carrier injection6-11 or acceleration12,13, which limit device performance in terms of power consumption and negative differential resistance14-17. Mixed-dimensional devices, which combine bulk and low-dimensional materials, can offer different mechanisms for hot-carrier generation by leveraging the diverse potential barriers formed by energy-band combinations18-21. Here we report a hot-emitter transistor based on double mixed-dimensional graphene/germanium Schottky junctions that uses stimulated emission of heated carriers to achieve a subthreshold swing lower than 1 millivolt per decade beyond the Boltzmann limit and a negative differential resistance with a peak-to-valley current ratio greater than 100 at room temperature. Multi-valued logic with a high inverter gain and reconfigurable logic states are further demonstrated. This work reports a multifunctional hot-emitter transistor with significant potential for low-power and negative-differential-resistance applications, marking a promising advancement for the post-Moore era.

van der Waals Contact for Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged as highly promising candidates for next-generation electronics owing to their atomically thin structures and surfaces devoid of dangling bonds. However, establishing high-quality metal contacts with TMDs presents a critical challenge, primarily attributed to their ultrathin bodies and delicate lattices. These distinctive characteristics render them susceptible to physical damage and chemical reactions when conventional metallization approaches involving "high-energy" processes are implemented. To tackle this challenge, the concept of van der Waals (vdW) contacts has recently been proposed as a "low-energy" alternative. Within the vdW geometry, metal contacts can be physically laminated or gently deposited onto the 2D channel of TMDs, ensuring the formation of atomically clean and electronically sharp contact interfaces while preserving the inherent properties of the 2D TMDs. Consequently, a considerable number of vdW contact devices have been extensively investigated, revealing unprecedented transport physics or exceptional device performance that was previously unachievable. This review presents recent advancements in vdW contacts for TMD transistors, discussing the merits, limitations, and prospects associated with each device geometry. By doing so, our purpose is to offer a comprehensive understanding of the current research landscape and provide insights into future directions within this rapidly evolving field.

Light-Triggerable and Gate-Tunable Negative Differential Resistance in Small Molecules Heterojunction

Negative differential resistance (NDR), a phenomenon in which the current decreases when the applied voltage is increased, is attracting attention as a unique electrical property. Here, we propose a broad spectral photo/gate cotunable channel switching NDR (CS-NDR) device. The proposed CS-NDR device has superior linear gate-tunable NDR behavior and highly reproducible properties compared to the previously reported NDR devices, as the fundamental mechanism of the CS-NDR device is directly related to a charge transport channel switching by the linear increase of the applied drain voltage. We also experimentally demonstrate that the photoinduced NDR behavior of the CS-NDR device was derived from the grain boundaries of dinaphtho[2;3-b:2',3'-f]-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene. Furthermore, this work produces a 9 × 9 CS-NDR device array composed of 81 devices, providing the reproducibility and uniformity of the CS-NDR device. Finally, we successfully demonstrate the detection of text images with 81 CS-NDR devices using the proposed photo/gate cotunable NDR behavior.

Nanomaterials Based Micro/Nanoelectromechanical System (MEMS and NEMS) Devices

The micro- and nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS and NEMS) devices based on two-dimensional (2D) materials reveal novel functionalities and higher sensitivity compared to their silicon-base counterparts. Unique properties of 2D materials boost the demand for 2D material-based nanoelectromechanical devices and sensing. During the last decades, using suspended 2D membranes integrated with MEMS and NEMS emerged high-performance sensitivities in mass and gas sensors, accelerometers, pressure sensors, and microphones. Actively sensing minute changes in the surrounding environment is provided by means of MEMS/NEMS sensors, such as sensing in passive modes of small changes in momentum, temperature, and strain. In this review, we discuss the materials preparation methods, electronic, optical, and mechanical properties of 2D materials used in NEMS and MEMS devices, fabrication routes besides device operation principles.

Toward High-Peak-to-Valley-Ratio Graphene Resonant Tunneling Diodes

The resonant tunneling diode (RTD) is one of the very few room-temperature-operating quantum devices to date that is able to exhibit negative differential resistance. However, the reported key figure of merit, the current peak-to-valley ratio (PVR), of graphene RTDs has been up to only 3.9 at room temperature thus far. This remains very puzzling, given the atomically flat interfaces of the 2D materials. By varying the active area and perimeter of RTDs based on a graphene/hexagonal boron nitride/graphene heterostructure, we discovered that the edge doping can play a dominant role in determining the resonant tunneling, and a large area-to-perimeter ratio is necessary to obtain a high PVR. The understanding enables establishing a novel design rule and results in a PVR of 14.9, which is at least a factor of 3.8 higher than previously reported graphene RTDs. Furthermore, a theory is developed allowing extraction of the edge doping depth for the first time.

Emergence of Interlayer Coherence in Twist-Controlled Graphene Double Layers

We report enhanced interlayer tunneling with reduced linewidth at zero interlayer bias in a twist-controlled double monolayer graphene heterostructure in the quantum Hall regime, when the top (ν_{T}) and bottom (ν_{B}) layer filling factors are near ν_{T}=±1/2,±3/2 and ν_{B}=±1/2,±3/2, and the total filling factor ν=±1 or ±3. The zero-bias interlayer conductance peaks are stable against variations of layer filling factor, and signal the emergence of interlayer phase coherence. Our results highlight twist control as a key attribute in revealing interlayer coherence using tunneling.

P-Type 2D Semiconductors for Future Electronics

2D semiconductors represent one of the best candidates to extend Moore's law for their superiorities, such as keeping high carrier mobility and remarkable gate-control capability at atomic thickness. Complementary transistors and van der Waals junctions are critical in realizing 2D semiconductors-based integrated circuits suitable for future electronics. N-type 2D semiconductors have been reported predominantly for the strong electron doping caused by interfacial charge impurities and internal structural defects. By contrast, superior and reliable p-type 2D semiconductors with holes as majority carriers are still scarce. Not only that, but some critical issues have not been adequately addressed, including their controlled synthesis in wafer size and high quality, defect and carrier modulation, optimization of interface and contact, and application in high-speed and low-power integrated devices. Here the material toolkit, synthesis strategies, device basics, and digital electronics closely related to p-type 2D semiconductors are reviewed. Their opportunities, challenges, and prospects for future electronic applications are also discussed, which would be promising or even shining in the post-Moore era.

Resonant Tunneling between Quantized Subbands in van der Waals Double Quantum Well Structure Based on Few-Layer WSe2

We demonstrate van der Waals double quantum well (vDQW) devices based on few-layer WSe₂ quantum wells and a few-layer h-BN tunnel barrier. Due to the strong out-of-plane confinement, an exfoliated WSe₂ exhibits quantized subband states at the Γ point in its valence band. Here, we report resonant tunneling and negative differential resistance in vDQW at room temperature owing to momentum- and energy-conserved tunneling between the quantized subbands in each well. Compared to single quantum well (QW) devices with only one QW layer possessing quantized subbands, superior current peak-to-valley ratios were obtained for the DQWs. Our findings suggest a new direction for utilizing few-layer-thick transition metal dichalcogenides in subband QW devices, bridging the gap between two-dimensional materials and state-of-the-art semiconductor QW electronics.

2D Heterostructures for Ubiquitous Electronics and Optoelectronics: Principles, Opportunities, and Challenges

A grand family of two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterostructures have been discovered through the extensive experimental and theoretical efforts of chemists, material scientists, physicists, and technologists. These pioneering works contribute to realizing the fundamental platforms to explore and analyze new physical/chemical properties and technological phenomena at the micro-nano-pico scales. Engineering 2D van der Waals (vdW) materials and their heterostructures via chemical and physical methods with a suitable choice of stacking order, thickness, and interlayer interactions enable exotic carrier dynamics, showing potential in high-frequency electronics, broadband optoelectronics, low-power neuromorphic computing, and ubiquitous electronics. This comprehensive review addresses recent advances in terms of representative 2D materials, the general fabrication methods, and characterization techniques and the vital role of the physical parameters affecting the quality of 2D heterostructures. The main emphasis is on 2D heterostructures and 3D-bulk (3D) hybrid systems exhibiting intrinsic quantum mechanical responses in the optical, valley, and topological states. Finally, we discuss the universality of 2D heterostructures with representative applications and trends for future electronics and optoelectronics (FEO) under the challenges and opportunities from physical, nanotechnological, and material synthesis perspectives.

Mechanisms of negative differential resistance in glutamine-functionalized WS2quantum dots

Understanding the mechanism of the negative differential resistance (NDR) in transition metal dichalcogenides is essential for fundamental science and the development of electronic devices. Here, the NDR of the current-voltage characteristics was observed based on the glutamine-functionalized WS₂quantum dots (QDs). The NDR effect can be adjusted by varying the applied voltage range, air pressure, surrounding gases, and relative humidity. A peak-to-valley current ratio as high as 6.3 has been achieved at room temperature. Carrier trapping induced by water molecules was suggested to be responsible for the mechanism of the NDR in the glutamine-functionalized WS₂QDs. Investigating the NDR of WS₂QDs may promote the development of memory applications and emerging devices.

Quantum Lifetime Spectroscopy and Magnetotunneling in Double Bilayer Graphene Heterostructures

We describe a tunneling spectroscopy technique in a double bilayer graphene heterostructure where momentum-conserving tunneling between different energy bands serves as an energy filter for the tunneling carriers, and allows a measurement of the quasiparticle state broadening at well-defined energies. The broadening increases linearly with the excited state energy with respect to the Fermi level and is weakly dependent on temperature. In-plane magnetotunneling reveals a high degree of rotational alignment between the graphene bilayers, and an absence of momentum randomizing processes.

Roadmap of Terahertz Imaging 2021

In this roadmap article, we have focused on the most recent advances in terahertz (THz) imaging with particular attention paid to the optimization and miniaturization of the THz imaging systems. Such systems entail enhanced functionality, reduced power consumption, and increased convenience, thus being geared toward the implementation of THz imaging systems in real operational conditions. The article will touch upon the advanced solid-state-based THz imaging systems, including room temperature THz sensors and arrays, as well as their on-chip integration with diffractive THz optical components. We will cover the current-state of compact room temperature THz emission sources, both optolectronic and electrically driven; particular emphasis is attributed to the beam-forming role in THz imaging, THz holography and spatial filtering, THz nano-imaging, and computational imaging. A number of advanced THz techniques, such as light-field THz imaging, homodyne spectroscopy, and phase sensitive spectrometry, THz modulated continuous wave imaging, room temperature THz frequency combs, and passive THz imaging, as well as the use of artificial intelligence in THz data processing and optics development, will be reviewed. This roadmap presents a structured snapshot of current advances in THz imaging as of 2021 and provides an opinion on contemporary scientific and technological challenges in this field, as well as extrapolations of possible further evolution in THz imaging.

Design and tailoring of two-dimensional Schottky, PN and tunnelling junctions for electronics and optoelectronics

Owing to their superior carrier mobility, strong light-matter interactions, and flexibility at the atomically thin thickness, two-dimensional (2D) materials are attracting wide interest for application in electronic and optoelectronic devices, including rectifying diodes, transistors, memory, photodetectors, and light-emitting diodes. At the heart of these devices, Schottky, PN, and tunneling junctions are playing an essential role in defining device function. Intriguingly, the ultrathin thickness and unique van der Waals (vdW) interlayer coupling in 2D materials has rendered enormous opportunities for the design and tailoring of various 2D junctions, e.g. using Lego-like hetero-stacking, surface decoration, and field-effect modulation methods. Such flexibility has led to marvelous breakthroughs during the exploration of 2D electronics and optoelectronic devices. To advance further, it is imperative to provide an overview of existing strategies for the engineering of various 2D junctions for their integration in the future. Thus, in this review, we provide a comprehensive survey of previous efforts toward 2D Schottky, PN, and tunneling junctions, and the functional devices built from them. Though these junctions exhibit similar configurations, distinct strategies have been developed for their optimal figures of merit based on their working principles and functional purposes.

A multiple negative differential resistance heterojunction device and its circuit application to ternary static random access memory

For increasing the restricted bit-density in the conventional binary logic system, extensive research efforts have been directed toward implementing single devices with a two threshold voltage (VTH) characteristic via the single negative differential resistance (NDR) phenomenon. In particular, recent advances in forming van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures with two-dimensional crystals have opened up new possibilities for realizing such NDR-based tunneling devices. However, it has been challenging to exhibit three VTH through the multiple-NDR (m-NDR) phenomenon in a single device even by using vdW heterostructures. Here, we show the m-NDR device formed on a BP/(ReS2 + HfS2) type-III double-heterostructure. This m-NDR device is then integrated with a vdW transistor to demonstrate a ternary vdW latch circuit capable of storing three logic states. Finally, the ternary latch is extended toward ternary SRAM, and its high-speed write and read operations are theoretically verified.

Resonant Tunneling Spectroscopy to Probe the Giant Stark Effect in Atomically Thin Materials

Each atomic layer in van der Waals heterostructures possesses a distinct electronic band structure that can be manipulated for unique device operations. In the precise device architecture, the subtle but critical band splits by the giant Stark effect between atomic layers, varied by the momentum of electrons and external electric fields in device operation, has not yet been demonstrated or applied to design original devices with the full potential of atomically thin materials. Here, resonant tunneling spectroscopy based on the negligible quantum capacitance of 2D semiconductors in resonant tunneling transistors is reported. The bandgaps and sub-band structures of various channel materials could be demonstrated by the new conceptual spectroscopy at the device scale without debatable quasiparticle effects. Moreover, the band splits by the giant Stark effect in the channel materials could be probed, overcoming the limitations of conventional optical, photoemission, and tunneling spectroscopy. The resonant tunneling spectroscopy reveals essential and practical information for novel device applications.

Spin-Conserving Resonant Tunneling in Twist-Controlled WSe2-hBN-WSe2 Heterostructures

We investigate interlayer tunneling in heterostructures consisting of two tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) monolayers with controlled rotational alignment, and separated by hexagonal boron nitride. In samples where the two WSe₂ monolayers are rotationally aligned we observe resonant tunneling, manifested by a large conductance and negative differential resistance in the vicinity of zero interlayer bias, which stem from energy- and momentum-conserving tunneling. Because the spin-orbit coupling leads to coupled spin-valley degrees of freedom, the twist between the two WSe₂ monolayers allows us to probe the conservation of spin-valley degree of freedom in tunneling. In heterostructures where the two WSe₂ monolayers have a 180° relative twist, such that the Brillouin zone of one layer is aligned with the time-reversed Brillouin zone of the opposite layer, the resonant tunneling between the layers is suppressed. These findings provide evidence that, in addition to momentum, the spin-valley degree of freedom is also conserved in vertical transport.

Independent Band Modulation in 2D van der Waals Heterostructures via a Novel Device Architecture

Benefiting from the technique of vertically stacking 2D layered materials (2DLMs), an advanced novel device architecture based on a top-gated MoS2/WSe2 van der Waals (vdWs) heterostructure is designed. By adopting a self-aligned metal screening layer (Pd) to the WSe2 channel, a fixed p-doped state of the WSe2 as well as an independent doping control of the MoS2 channel can be achieved, thus guaranteeing an effective energy-band offset modulation and large through current. In such a device, under specific top-gate voltages, a sharp PN junction forms at the edge of the Pd layer and can be effectively manipulated. By varying top-gate voltages, the device can be operated under both quasi-Esaki diode and unipolar-Zener diode modes with tunable current modulations. A maximum gate-coupling efficiency as high as ≈90% and a subthreshold swing smaller than 60 mV dec-1 can be achieved under the band-to-band tunneling regime. The superiority of the proposed device architecture is also confirmed by comparison with a traditional heterostructure device. This work demonstrates the feasibility of a new device structure based on vdWs heterostructures and its potential in future low-power electronic and optoelectronic device applications.

Strongly Enhanced Tunneling at Total Charge Neutrality in Double-Bilayer Graphene-WSe_{2} Heterostructures

We report the experimental observation of strongly enhanced tunneling between graphene bilayers through a WSe_{2} barrier when the graphene bilayers are populated with carriers of opposite polarity and equal density. The enhanced tunneling increases sharply in strength with decreasing temperature, and the tunneling current exhibits a vertical onset as a function of interlayer voltage at a temperature of 1.5 K. The strongly enhanced tunneling at overall neutrality departs markedly from single-particle model calculations that otherwise match the measured tunneling current-voltage characteristics well, and suggests the emergence of a many-body state with condensed interbilayer excitons when electrons and holes of equal densities populate the two layers.

Lateral Heterostructures Formed by Thermally Converting n-Type SnSe2 to p-Type SnSe

Different two-dimensional (2D) materials, when combined together to form heterostructures, can exhibit exciting properties that do not exist in individual components. Therefore, intensive research efforts have been devoted to their fabrication and characterization. Previously, vertical and in-plane 2D heterostructures have been formed by mechanical stacking and chemical vapor deposition. Here, we report a new material system that can form in-plane p-n junctions by thermal conversion of n-type SnSe₂ to p-type SnSe. Through scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory studies, we find that these two distinctively different lattices can form atomically sharp interfaces and have a type II to nearly type III band alignment. We also demonstrate that this method can be used to create micron-sized in-plane p-n junctions at predefined locations. These findings pave the way for further exploration of the intriguing properties of the SnSe₂-SnSe heterostructure.

Material Synthesis and Device Aspects of Monolayer Tungsten Diselenide

In this paper, we investigate the synthesis of WSe₂ by chemical vapor deposition and study the current transport and device scaling of monolayer WSe₂. We found that the device characteristics of the back-gated WSe₂ transistors with thick oxides are very sensitive to the applied drain bias, especially for transistors in the sub-micrometer regime. The threshold voltage, subthreshold swing, and extracted field-effect mobility vary with the applied drain bias. The output characteristics in the long-channel transistors show ohmic-like behavior, while that in the short-channel transistors show Schottky-like behavior. Our investigation reveals that these phenomena are caused by the drain-induced barrier lowering (short-channel effect). For back-gated WSe₂ transistors with 280 nm oxide, the short-channel effect appears when the channel length is shorter than 0.4 µm. This extremely long electrostatic scaling length is due to the thick back-gate oxides. In addition, we also found that the hydrogen flow rate and the amount of WO₃ precursor play an important role in the morphology of the WSe₂. The hole mobility of the monolayer WSe₂ is limited by Columbic scattering below 250 K, while it is limited by phonon scattering above 250 K. These findings are very important for the synthesis of WSe₂ and accurate characterization of the electronic devices based on 2D materials.

Quantum engineering of transistors based on 2D materials heterostructures

Quantum engineering entails atom-by-atom design and fabrication of electronic devices. This innovative technology that unifies materials science and device engineering has been fostered by the recent progress in the fabrication of vertical and lateral heterostructures of two-dimensional materials and by the assessment of the technology potential via computational nanotechnology. But how close are we to the possibility of the practical realization of next-generation atomically thin transistors? In this Perspective, we analyse the outlook and the challenges of quantum-engineered transistors using heterostructures of two-dimensional materials against the benchmark of silicon technology and its foreseeable evolution in terms of potential performance and manufacturability. Transistors based on lateral heterostructures emerge as the most promising option from a performance point of view, even if heterostructure formation and control are in the initial technology development stage.

Magnitude of the current in 2D interlayer tunneling devices

Using the Bardeen tunneling method with first-principles wave functions, computations are made of the tunneling current in graphene/hexagonal-boron-nitride/graphene (G/h-BN/G) vertical structures. Detailed comparison with prior experimental results is made, focusing on the magnitude of the achievable tunnel current. With inclusion of the effects of translational and rotational misalignment of the graphene and the h-BN, predicted currents are found to be about 15×  larger than experimental values. A reduction in this discrepancy, to a factor of 2.5×, is achieved by utilizing a realistic size for the band gap of the h-BN, hence affecting the exponential decay constant for the tunneling.

Distinctive electronic transport in pyridine-based devices with narrow graphene nanoribbon electrodes

Two kinds of pyridine-based molecular devices with the same narrow ZGNR electrodes show different and distinctive non-equilibrium electron transport properties.