IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v568y2019i7750d10.1038_s41586-019-1052-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Van der Waals contacts between three-dimensional metals and two-dimensional semiconductors

Author

Listed:
  • Yan Wang

    (University of Cambridge
    Rutgers University)

  • Jong Chan Kim

    (UNIST Central Research Facilities (UCRF) and School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNIST)

  • Ryan J. Wu

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Jenny Martinez

    (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona)

  • Xiuju Song

    (Rutgers University
    Shenzhen University)

  • Jieun Yang

    (University of Cambridge
    Rutgers University)

  • Fang Zhao

    (Princeton University)

  • Andre Mkhoyan

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Hu Young Jeong

    (UNIST Central Research Facilities (UCRF) and School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNIST)

  • Manish Chhowalla

    (University of Cambridge
    Rutgers University
    Shenzhen University)

Abstract

As the dimensions of the semiconducting channels in field-effect transistors decrease, the contact resistance of the metal–semiconductor interface at the source and drain electrodes increases, dominating the performance of devices1–3. Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) have been demonstrated to be excellent semiconductors for ultrathin field-effect transistors4,5. However, unusually high contact resistance has been observed across the interface between the metal and the 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide3,5–9. Recent studies have shown that van der Waals contacts formed by transferred graphene10,11 and metals12 on few-layered transition-metal dichalcogenides produce good contact properties. However, van der Waals contacts between a three-dimensional metal and a monolayer 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide have yet to be demonstrated. Here we report the realization of ultraclean van der Waals contacts between 10-nanometre-thick indium metal capped with 100-nanometre-thick gold electrodes and monolayer MoS2. Using scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging, we show that the indium and gold layers form a solid solution after annealing at 200 degrees Celsius and that the interface between the gold-capped indium and the MoS2 is atomically sharp with no detectable chemical interaction between the metal and the 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide, suggesting van-der-Waals-type bonding between the gold-capped indium and monolayer MoS2. The contact resistance of the indium/gold electrodes is 3,000 ± 300 ohm micrometres for monolayer MoS2 and 800 ± 200 ohm micrometres for few-layered MoS2. These values are among the lowest observed for three-dimensional metal electrodes evaporated onto MoS2, enabling high-performance field-effect transistors with a mobility of 167 ± 20 square centimetres per volt per second. We also demonstrate a low contact resistance of 220 ± 50 ohm micrometres on ultrathin niobium disulfide (NbS2) and near-ideal band offsets, indicative of defect-free interfaces, in tungsten disulfide (WS2) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2) contacted with indium alloy. Our work provides a simple method of making ultraclean van der Waals contacts using standard laboratory technology on monolayer 2D semiconductors.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan Wang & Jong Chan Kim & Ryan J. Wu & Jenny Martinez & Xiuju Song & Jieun Yang & Fang Zhao & Andre Mkhoyan & Hu Young Jeong & Manish Chhowalla, 2019. "Van der Waals contacts between three-dimensional metals and two-dimensional semiconductors," Nature, Nature, vol. 568(7750), pages 70-74, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:568:y:2019:i:7750:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1052-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1052-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1052-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-019-1052-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Taewoo Ha & Yu-Seong Seo & Teun-Teun Kim & Bipin Lamichhane & Young-Hoon Kim & Su Jae Kim & Yousil Lee & Jong Chan Kim & Sang Eon Park & Kyung Ik Sim & Jae Hoon Kim & Yong In Kim & Seon Je Kim & Hu Yo, 2023. "Coherent consolidation of trillions of nucleations for mono-atom step-level flat surfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Liting Liu & Yang Chen & Long Chen & Biao Xie & Guoli Li & Lingan Kong & Quanyang Tao & Zhiwei Li & Xiaokun Yang & Zheyi Lu & Likuan Ma & Donglin Lu & Xiangdong Yang & Yuan Liu, 2024. "Ultrashort vertical-channel MoS2 transistor using a self-aligned contact," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Xiangbin Cai & Zefei Wu & Xu Han & Yong Chen & Shuigang Xu & Jiangxiazi Lin & Tianyi Han & Pingge He & Xuemeng Feng & Liheng An & Run Shi & Jingwei Wang & Zhehan Ying & Yuan Cai & Mengyuan Hua & Junwe, 2022. "Bridging the gap between atomically thin semiconductors and metal leads," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Seunguk Song & Aram Yoon & Sora Jang & Jason Lynch & Jihoon Yang & Juwon Han & Myeonggi Choe & Young Ho Jin & Cindy Yueli Chen & Yeryun Cheon & Jinsung Kwak & Changwook Jeong & Hyeonsik Cheong & Deep , 2023. "Fabrication of p-type 2D single-crystalline transistor arrays with Fermi-level-tuned van der Waals semimetal electrodes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Lingan Kong & Ruixia Wu & Yang Chen & Ying Huangfu & Liting Liu & Wei Li & Donglin Lu & Quanyang Tao & Wenjing Song & Wanying Li & Zheyi Lu & Xiao Liu & Yunxin Li & Zhiwei Li & Wei Tong & Shuimei Ding, 2023. "Wafer-scale and universal van der Waals metal semiconductor contact," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Xuanzhang Li & Yang Wei & Zhijie Wang & Ya Kong & Yipeng Su & Gaotian Lu & Zhen Mei & Yi Su & Guangqi Zhang & Jianhua Xiao & Liang Liang & Jia Li & Qunqing Li & Jin Zhang & Shoushan Fan & Yuegang Zhan, 2023. "One-dimensional semimetal contacts to two-dimensional semiconductors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Xiaodong Zhang & Chenxi Huang & Zeyu Li & Jun Fu & Jiaran Tian & Zhuping Ouyang & Yuliang Yang & Xiang Shao & Yulei Han & Zhenhua Qiao & Hualing Zeng, 2024. "Reliable wafer-scale integration of two-dimensional materials and metal electrodes with van der Waals contacts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Lu Li & Qinqin Wang & Fanfan Wu & Qiaoling Xu & Jinpeng Tian & Zhiheng Huang & Qinghe Wang & Xuan Zhao & Qinghua Zhang & Qinkai Fan & Xiuzhen Li & Yalin Peng & Yangkun Zhang & Kunshan Ji & Aomiao Zhi , 2024. "Epitaxy of wafer-scale single-crystal MoS2 monolayer via buffer layer control," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:568:y:2019:i:7750:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1052-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.