Scaling nanoribbon transistors with monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Nanoscale transistors demand aggressive scaling of all channel dimensions—length, width and thickness. Two-dimensional semiconductors (2DS) provide the ultimate thickness limit, yet good device performance has largely remained restricted to micrometre-wide channels. Here we report monolayer 2DS nanoribbon transistors with both n- and p-type operation, fabricated by a top-down multipatterning process that includes ‘anchored’ contacts to limit nanoribbon delamination. This approach achieves channel lengths and widths down to 25–30 nm, with minimal edge degradation confirmed through nanoscale characterization, including tip-enhanced photoluminescence. Integrated with thin high- κ gate dielectrics, the devices deliver on-state currents up to 560, 420 and 130 µA µm −1 at a drain-to-source voltage of 1 V for n-type MoS 2 , n-type WS 2 and p-type WSe 2 , respectively. These results exceed prior single-gated 2DS nanoribbon reports, with WS 2 improving by more than two orders of magnitude, even for normally off (enhancement-mode) operation. Overall, these findings position top-down patterned 2DS nanoribbons as promising building blocks for future nanosheet transistor architectures.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: 2D Materials and Applications · Organic and Molecular Conductors Research · MXene and MAX Phase Materials
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (49)
Show source-provided references
1. Kahng, D. Electric field controlled semiconductor device. US patent 3,102,230 (1963).
2. Auth, C. et al. A 22 nm high performance and low-power CMOS technology featuring fully-depleted tri-gate transistors, self-aligned contacts and high density MIM capacitors. In Proc. Symposium on VLSI Technology 131–132 (IEEE, 2012).10.1109/CICC.2012.6330657 ↗
3. Yeap, G. et al. 2 nm platform technology featuring energy-efficient nanosheet transistors and interconnects co-optimized with 3DIC for AI, HPC and mobile SoC applications. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 1091–1094 (IEEE, 2024).
4. Cao, W. et al. The future transistors. Nature 620, 501–515 (2023).10.1038/s41586-023-06145-x ↗
5. Agrawal, A. et al. Silicon RibbonFET CMOS at 6 nm gate length. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 605–608 (IEEE, 2024).
6. English, C. D., Shine, G., Dorgan, V. E., Saraswat, K. C. & Pop, E. Improved contacts to MoS2 transistors by ultra-high vacuum metal deposition. Nano Lett. 16, 3824–3830 (2016).10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01309 ↗
7. O’Brien, K. P. et al. Process integration and future outlook of 2D transistors. Nat. Commun. 14, 6400 (2023).10.1038/s41467-023-41779-5 ↗
8. Liu, Y. et al. Promises and prospects of two-dimensional transistors. Nature 591, 43–53 (2021).10.1038/s41586-021-03339-z ↗
9. Mortelmans, W. et al. Gate oxide module development for scaled GAA 2D FETs enabling SS <75 mV dec−1 and record Idmax >900 μA μm−1 at Lg <50 nm. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 365–368 (IEEE, 2024).10.1109/IEDM50854.2024.10873417 ↗
10. Lockhart de la Rosa, C. J. & Kar, G. S. Introducing 2D-material based devices in the logic scaling roadmap. Semicond. Dig. 6, 17–21 (2024).
11. IEEE International Roadmap for Devices and Systems; https://irds.ieee.org/ (accessed 25 April 2025).
12. Pal, A., Chavan, T., Jabbour, J., Cao, W. & Banerjee, K. Three-dimensional transistors with two-dimensional semiconductors for future CMOS scaling. Nat. Electron. 7, 1147–1157 (2024).10.1038/s41928-024-01289-8 ↗
13. Dubey, P. K. et al. Simulation of vertically stacked 2-D nanosheet FETs. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 72, 1494–1500 (2025).10.1109/TED.2025.3533474 ↗
14. Wu, F. et al. Vertical MoS2 transistors with sub-1-nm gate lengths. Nature 603, 259–264 (2022).10.1038/s41586-021-04323-3 ↗
15. Chen, S. et al. Channel and contact length scaling of two-dimensional transistors using composite metal electrodes. Nat. Electron. 8, 394–402 (2025).10.1038/s41928-025-01382-6 ↗
16. Pan, H. & Zhang, Y.-W. Edge-dependent structural, electronic and magnetic properties of MoS2 nanoribbons. J. Mater. Chem. 22, 7280–7290 (2012).10.1039/c2jm15906f ↗
17. Li, Y., Zhou, Z., Zhang, S. & Chen, Z. MoS2 nanoribbons: high stability and unusual electronic and magnetic properties. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 16739–16744 (2008).10.1021/ja805545x ↗
18. Mochizuki, S. et al. Stacked gate-all-around nanosheet pFET with highly compressive strained Si1–xGex channel. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 19–22 (IEEE, 2020).
19. McClellan, C. J., Yalon, E., Smithe, K. K. H., Suryavanshi, S. V. & Pop, E. High current density in monolayer MoS2 doped by AlOx. ACS Nano 15, 1587–1596 (2021).10.1021/acsnano.0c09078 ↗
20. Bourjot, E. et al. Wrap-all-around contact for nanosheet-FET and method of forming same. US patent 10,559,656 (2020).
21. Wu, Z. et al. Defects as a factor limiting carrier mobility in WSe2: a spectroscopic investigation. Nano Res. 9, 3622–3631 (2016).10.1007/s12274-016-1232-5 ↗
22. Neilson, K. Advancing Two-dimensional Semiconductor Devices Through Growth, Fabrication, And Contact Engineering. PhD thesis, Stanford Univ. (2025).
23. Ahmed, Z. et al. Introducing 2D-FETs in device scaling roadmap using DTCO. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 465–468 (IEEE, 2020).
24. Wang, M. A. & Pop, E. Monte Carlo simulation of electrical transport with joule heating and strain in monolayer MoS2 devices. Nano Lett. 25, 6841–6847 (2025).10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05254 ↗
25. Mignuzzi, S. et al. Effect of disorder on Raman scattering of single-layer MoS2. Phys. Rev. B 91, 195411 (2015).10.1103/PhysRevB.91.195411 ↗
26. Wu, J.-B. et al. Monolayer molybdenum disulfide nanoribbons with high optical anisotropy. Adv. Opt. Mater. 4, 756–762 (2016).10.1002/adom.201500707 ↗
27. Hoang, L. et al. Understanding the impact of contact-induced strain on the electrical performance of monolayer WS2 transistors. Nano Lett. 24, 12768–12774 (2024).10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02616 ↗
28. Ko, J.-S. et al. Achieving 1-nm-scale equivalent oxide thickness top-gate dielectric on monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide transistors with CMOS-friendly approaches. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 72, 1514–1519 (2025).10.1109/TED.2024.3466112 ↗
29. Ko, J.-S. et al. Sub-nanometer equivalent oxide thickness and threshold voltage control enabled by silicon seed layer on monolayer MoS2 transistors. Nano Lett. 25, 2587–2593 (2025).10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01775 ↗
30. Salman, E. & Friedman, E. G. High Performance Integrated Circuit Design (McGraw-Hill, 2012).
31. Li, X. et al. Width-dependent continuous growth of atomically thin quantum nanoribbons from nanoalloy seeds in chalcogen vapor. Nat. Commun. 15, 10080 (2024).10.1038/s41467-024-54413-9 ↗
32. Saunders, A. P. et al. Direct exfoliation of nanoribbons from bulk van der Waals crystals. Small 20, 2470348 (2024).10.1002/smll.202470348 ↗
33. Li, X. et al. Nickel particle–enabled width-controlled growth of bilayer molybdenum disulfide nanoribbons. Sci. Adv. 7, eabk1892 (2021).10.1126/sciadv.abk1892 ↗
34. Chowdhury, T. et al. Substrate-directed synthesis of MoS2 nanocrystals with tunable dimensionality and optical properties. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 29–34 (2020).10.1038/s41565-019-0571-2 ↗
35. Ma, Z. et al. Lattice-guided growth of dense arrays of aligned transition metal dichalcogenide nanoribbons with high catalytic reactivity. Sci. Adv. 11, eadr8046 (2025).10.1126/sciadv.adr8046 ↗
36. Hoque, M. A. et al. Ultranarrow semiconductor WS2 nanoribbon field-effect transistors. Nano Lett. 25, 1750–1757 (2025).10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01076 ↗
37. Davelou, D., Kopidakis, G., Kaxiras, E. & Remediakis, I. N. Nanoribbon edges of transition-metal dichalcogenides: stability and electronic properties. Phys. Rev. B 96, 165436 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevB.96.165436 ↗
38. Aslam, M. A. et al. Single-crystalline nanoribbon network field effect transistors from arbitrary two-dimensional materials. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 6, 76 (2022).10.1038/s41699-022-00356-y ↗
39. Chen, S. et al. Monolayer MoS2 nanoribbon transistors fabricated by scanning probe lithography. Nano Lett. 19, 2092–2098 (2019).10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00271 ↗
40. Jiang, J. et al. Schottky-barrier quantum well in two-dimensional semiconductor nanotransistors. Mater. Today Phys. 15, 100275 (2020).10.1016/j.mtphys.2020.100275 ↗
41. Kotekar-Patil, D., Deng, J., Wong, S. L., Lau, C. S. & Goh, K. E. J. Single layer MoS2 nanoribbon field effect transistor. Appl. Phys. Lett. 114, 013508 (2019).10.1063/1.5079860 ↗
42. Chen, S., Zhang, Y., King, W. P., Bashir, R. & van der Zande, A. M. Edge-passivated monolayer WSe2 nanoribbon transistors. Adv. Mater. 36, 2313694 (2024).10.1002/adma.202313694 ↗
43. Lan, H.-Y. et al. Reliability of high-performance monolayer MoS2 transistors on scaled high-κ HfO2. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 9, 5 (2025).10.1038/s41699-025-00527-7 ↗
44. O’Brien, K. P. et al. Advancing 2D monolayer CMOS through contact, channel and interface engineering. In Proc. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 163–166 (IEEE, 2021).
45. Smithe, K. K. H., Suryavanshi, S. V., Muñoz Rojo, M., Tedjarati, A. D. & Pop, E. Low variability in synthetic monolayer MoS2 devices. ACS Nano 11, 8456–8463 (2017).10.1021/acsnano.7b04100 ↗
46. Zhang, Z. et al. Chemically tailored growth of 2D semiconductors via hybrid metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. ACS Nano 18, 25414–25424 (2024).10.1021/acsnano.4c02164 ↗
47. Hoang, L. et al. Low resistance p-type contacts to monolayer WSe2 through chlorinated solvent doping. Nat. Commun. 17, 718 (2026).10.1038/s41467-025-65604-3 ↗
48. Krayev, A. et al. Excitation laser energy dependence of the gap-mode TERS spectra of WS2 and MoS2 on silver. ACS Photonics 12, 1535–1544 (2025).10.1021/acsphotonics.4c02257 ↗
49. Liu, H., Gu, J. & Ye, P. D. MoS2 nanoribbon transistors: transition from depletion mode to enhancement mode by channel-width trimming. IEEE Electron Device Lett. 33, 1273–1275 (2012).10.1109/LED.2012.2202630 ↗