Contact-engineered reconfigurable two-dimensional Schottky junction field-effect transistor with low leakage currents

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been considered promising candidates for future low power-dissipation and reconfigurable integrated circuit applications. However, 2D transistors with intrinsic ambipolar transport polarity are usually affected by large off-state leakage currents and small on/off ratios. Here, we report the realization of a reconfigurable Schottky junction field-effect transistor (SJFET) in an asymmetric van der Waals contact geometry, showing a balanced and switchable n- and p-unipolarity with the I-ds on/off ratio kept >10(6). Meanwhile, the static leakage power consumption was suppressed to 10(-5) nW. The SJFET worked as a reversible Schottky rectifier with an ideality factor of similar to 1.0 and a tuned rectifying ratio from 3 x 10(6) to 2.5 x 10(-6). This empowered the SJFET with a reconfigurable photovoltaic performance in which the sign of the open-circuit voltage and photo-responsivity were substantially switched. This polarity-reversible SJFET paves an alternative way to develop reconfigurable 2D devices for low-power-consumption photovoltaic logic circuits.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed a reconfigurable Schottky junction field-effect transistor (SJFET) based on 2D materials, which exhibits balanced and switchable n- and p-unipolarity with an on/off ratio greater than 10^6 and static leakage power consumption reduced to 10^-5 nW. The SJFET functions as a reversible Schottky rectifier with adjustable rectifying ratio, enabling reconfigurable photovoltaic performance. This work paves the way for the development of low-power-consumption photovoltaic logic circuits using reconfigurable 2D devices.