Analysis of noise generation and electric conduction at grain boundaries in CVD-grown MoS2 field effect transistors

Benchmarking Noise and Dephasing in Emerging Electrical Materials for Quantum Technologies

As quantum technologies develop, a specific class of electrically conducting materials is rapidly gaining interest because they not only form the core quantum-enabled elements in superconducting qubits, semiconductor nanostructures, or sensing devices, but also the peripheral circuitry. The phase coherence of the electronic wave function in these emerging materials will be crucial when incorporated in the quantum architecture. The loss of phase memory, or dephasing, occurs when a quantum system interacts with the fluctuations in the local electromagnetic environment, which manifests in "noise" in the electrical conductivity. Hence, characterizing these materials and devices therefrom, for quantum applications, requires evaluation of both dephasing and noise, although there are very few materials where these properties are investigated simultaneously. Here, the available data on magnetotransport and low-frequency fluctuations in electrical conductivity are reviewed to benchmark the dephasing and noise. The focus is on new materials that are of direct interest to quantum technologies. The physical processes causing dephasing and noise in these systems are elaborated, the impact of both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters from materials synthesis and devices realization are evaluated, and it is hoped that a clearer pathway to design and characterize both material and devices for quantum applications is thus provided.

Analysis of Low-Frequency 1/f Noise Characteristics for MoTe2 Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors

Low-frequency electronic noise is an important parameter used for the electronic and sensing applications of transistors. Here, we performed a systematic study on the low-frequency noise mechanism for both p-channel and n-channel MoTe2 field-effect transistors (FET) at different temperatures, finding that low-frequency noise for both p-type and n-type conduction in MoTe2 devices come from the variable range hopping (VRH) transport process where carrier number fluctuations (CNF) occur. This process results in the broad distribution of the waiting time of the carriers between successive hops, causing the noise to increase as the temperature decreases. Moreover, we found the noise magnitude for p-type MoTe2 FET hardly changed after exposure to the ambient conditions, whereas for n-FET, the magnitude increased by nearly one order. These noise characteristics may provide useful guidelines for developing high-performance electronics based on the emerging transition metal dichalcogenides.

Intrinsic Optoelectronic Characteristics of MoS2 Phototransistors via a Fully Transparent van der Waals Heterostructure

In the past decade, intensive studies on monolayer MoS₂-based phototransistors have been carried out to achieve further enhanced optoelectronic characteristics. However, the intrinsic optoelectronic characteristics of monolayer MoS₂ have still not been explored until now because of unintended interferences, such as multiple reflections of incident light originating from commonly used opaque substrates. This leads to overestimated photoresponsive characteristics inevitably due to the enhanced photogating and photoconductive effects. Here, we reveal the intrinsic photoresponsive characteristics of monolayer MoS₂, including its internal responsivity and quantum efficiency, in fully transparent monolayer MoS₂ phototransistors employing a van der Waals heterostructure. Interestingly, as opposed to the previous reports, the internal photoresponsive characteristics do not significantly depend on the wavelength of the incident light as long as the electron-hole pairs are generated in the same k-space. This study provides a deeper understanding of the photoresponsive characteristics of MoS₂ and lays the foundation for two-dimensional materials-based transparent phototransistors.

Nanoscale enhancement of photoconductivity by localized charge traps in the grain structures of monolayer MoS2

We report a method for mapping the nanoscale anomalous enhancement of photoconductivity by localized charge traps in the grain structures of a molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) monolayer. In this work, a monolayer MoS₂ film was laterally scanned by a nanoscale conducting probe that was used to make direct contact with the MoS₂ surface. Electrical currents and noise maps were measured through the probe. By analyzing the data, we obtained maps for the sheet resistance and charge trap density for the MoS₂ grain structures. The maps clearly show grains for which sheet resistance and charge trap density were lower than those of the grain boundaries. Interestingly, we found an unusual inverse proportionality between the sheet resistance and charge trap density in the grains, which originated from the unique role of sulfur vacancies acting as both charge hopping sites and traps in monolayer MoS₂. In addition, under light illumination, the larger the trap density of a region was, the larger the photocurrent of the region was, indicating anomalous enhancement of the photocurrent by traps. Since our method provides valuable insights to understand the nanoscale effects of traps on photoconductive charge transport, it can be a powerful tool for noise studies and the practical application of two-dimensional materials.