Abstract
Semiconductors have long been perceived as a prerequisite for solid-state transistors. Although switching principles for nanometer-scale devices have emerged based on the deployment of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals heterostructures, tunneling and ballistic currents through short channels are difficult to control, and semiconducting channel materials remain indispensable for practical switching. In this study, we report a semiconductor-less solid-state electronic device that exhibits an industry-applicable switching of the ballistic current. This device modulates the field emission barrier height across the graphene-hexagonal boron nitride interface with ION/IOFF of 106 obtained from the transfer curves and adjustable intrinsic gain up to 4, and exhibits unprecedented current stability in temperature range of 15–400 K. The vertical device operation can be optimized with the capacitive coupling in the device geometry. The semiconductor-less switching resolves the long-standing issue of temperature-dependent device performance, thereby extending the potential of 2D van der Waals devices to applications in extreme environments.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1000 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:H.-J.C. acknowledges support from Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center for Future Technology (SRFC) (SRFC-MA1502-08) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2020R1A2C1003398) and (MOE) (NRF-2018R1D1A1B07050452). H.Y. acknowledges support from National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under NRF-2020R1A2B5B02002548. B.H.P. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. 2013R1A3A2042120). S.H.J. acknowledges support from National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under NRF-2018R1A2B6003937. S.W.L. acknowledges support from the Basic Science Research Program (NRF-2019R1A2C1085641) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korea government (MSIP). K.W. and T.T. acknowledge support from the Elemental Strategy Initiative conducted by the MEXT, Japan, Grant Number JPMXP0112101001, JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP20H00354, and the CREST (JPMJCR15F3), JST.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).