Harnessing defects for high-performance MoS₂ tunneling field-effect transistors

Abstract

The two-dimensional (2D) materials-based tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs) suffer from low driving currents. In contrast to the prevailing wisdom that defects are detrimental, we proposed to harness the ubiquitous defects in MoS₂ to overcome the problem of the low on-state current in TFET. The existence of certain molybdenum-related vacancies and sulfur vacancy in appropriate positions confers the higher driving currents without compromising the low-power benefits. Such performance enhancements are related to the defect-assisted resonant Zener tunneling mechanism introduced by the mid-gap states of the vacancy defects. These unveiled hidden defect benefits could provide new opportunities for boosting the performance of 2D TFETs. The defect-assisted resonant Zener tunneling mechanism in TFET introduced by the mid-gap states of the vacancies in MoS₂ is beneficial for enhancing the on-state current.