Gate-Controlled Metal–Insulator Transition in TiS₃ Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors

We explore the electrical characteristics of TiS3 nanowire field-effect transistor (FETs), over the wide temperature range from 3 to 350 K. These nanomaterials have a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) crystal structure and exhibit a gate-controlled metal–insulator transition (MIT) in their transfer curves. Their room-temperature mobility is ∼20–30 cm2/(V s), 2 orders of magnitude smaller than predicted previously, a result that we explain quantitatively in terms of the influence of polar-optical phonon scattering in these materials. In the insulating state (<∼220 K), the transfer curves exhibit unusual mesoscopic fluctuations and a current suppression near zero bias that is common to charge-density wave (CDW) systems. The fluctuations have a nonmonotonic temperature dependence and wash out at a temperature close to that of the bulk MIT, suggesting they may be a feature of quantum interference in the CDW state. Overall, our results demonstrate that quasi-1D TiS3 nanostructures represent a viable candidate for FET realization and that their functionality is influenced by complex phenomena.