Dual-Junction Field-Effect Transistor with Ultralow Subthreshold Swing Approaching the Theoretical Limit

Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors as basic electronic devices of integrated circuits have been greatly developed and widely used in the past decades. However, as the thickness of the conducting channel decreases, the interface electronic scattering between the gate oxide layer and the channel significantly impacts the performance of the transistor. To address this issue, van der Waals heterojunction field-effect transistors (vdWJFETs) have been proposed using two-dimensional semiconductors, which utilize the built-in electric field at the sharp van der Waals interface to regulate the channel conductance without the need of a complex gate oxide layer. In this study, a novel dual-junction vdWJFET composed of a MoS2 channel and a Te nanosheet gate has been developed. This device achieves an ultralow subthreshold swing (SS) and an extremely low current hysteresis, greatly surpassing the single-junction vdWJFET. In the transistor, the SS decreases from 475.04 to 68.3 mV dec-1, nearly approaching the theoretical limit of 60 mV dec-1 at room temperature. The pinch-off voltage (Vp) decreases from -4.5 to -0.75 V, with a current hysteresis of ∼10 mV and a considerable field-effect mobility (μ) of 36.43 cm2 V-1 s-1. The novel dual-junction vdWJFET provides a new approach to realize a transistor with a theoretical ideal SS and a negligible current hysteresis toward low-power electronic applications.