Optimizing the performance of two-dimensional material inverters

Abstract Transition metal dichalcogenides have garnered significant attention due to their potential in constructing in-memory logic devices and realizing non-von Neumann computing architectures. Leveraging the core advantages of two-dimensional materials—such as atomically thin thickness, excellent electrical properties, and innate compatibility with flexible electronics—this study fabricated an inverter device by dry-transferring WS 2 and WSe 2 (Shen et al 2022 Adv. Electron. Mater. 8 2200768). To further optimize performance, we systematically investigated the influence of substrate interface engineering on device behavior (Liu et al 2015 ACS Nano 9 7904–12). Furthermore, by utilizing the photosensitive characteristics of 2D materials, we achieved dynamic modulation of the device performance through external light illumination and optical power adjustment (Kumar et al 2025 Adv. Funct. Mater. 38 2507587). Notably, as shown in figures S1 and S2 under a source-drain voltage ( V ds ) of 5 V, the static operating current ( I ds ) of this inverter in the low/high resistance states was only about 1 pA, significantly reducing operational power consumption, by comparison with other literature, the results show that the static current of 1 nA of our device is comparable to that of the recently reported WSe 2 /WS 2 complementary inverter (Shen et al 2022 Adv. Electron. Mater. 8 2200768), and falls within the nW-to-pW power consumption range of typical 2D CMOS inverters. This research provides an innovative pathway for the development of non-von Neumann devices aimed at meeting the information processing demands of the post-Moore’s Law era.