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Reversible and controllable threshold voltage modulation for n-channel MoS2 and p-channel MoTe2 field-effect transistors via multiple counter doping with ODTS/poly-L-lysine charge enhancers

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Abstract

Confronted by the inherent physical limitations in scaling down Si technology, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) as alternatives are being tremendously researched and paid attention to. However, mature counter doping technology for TMDCs is still elusive, and thus, a controllable and reversible charge enhancer is adopted for acceptor (or donor)-like doping via octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) (or poly-L-lysine (PLL)) treatment. Furthermore, multiple counter doping for TMDC field-effect transistors (FETs), combined with a threshold voltage (Vth) freezing scheme, renders the Vth modulation controllable, with negligible degradation and decent sustainability of FETs even after each treatment of a representative charge enhancer. In parallel, the counter doping mechanism is systematically investigated via photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface energy characterization, and measurement of optoelectronic properties under illumination with light of various wavelengths. More impressively, complementary inverters, composed of type-converted molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) FETs and hetero-TMDC FETs in enhancement mode, are demonstrated via respective ODTS/PLL treatments. Herein, driving backplane application for micro-light-emitting diode (µ-LED) displays and physical validation of a corresponding counter doping scheme even for flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates could be leveraged to relieve daunting challenges in the application of nanoscale Si-based three-dimensional (3D) stacked systems, with potential adoption of ultralow power and monolithic optical interconnection technology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Priority Research Centers Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No. NRF-2020R1A6A1A03041954) and partly supported by (i) the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No. NRF-2019R1F1A1062767) and by (ii) the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (No. NRF-2021R1A2C1012593).

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  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, Incheon National University, Academy-ro 119, Yeongsu-gu, Incheon, 22012, Republic of Korea

    Seung Gi Seo, Jinheon Jeong, Seung Yeob Kim, Ajit Kumar & Sung Hun Jin

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  1. Seung Gi Seo
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  2. Jinheon Jeong
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Reversible and controllable threshold voltage modulation for n-channel MoS2 and p-channel MoTe2 field-effect transistors via multiple counter doping with ODTS/poly-L-lysine charge enhancers

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Seo, S.G., Jeong, J., Kim, S.Y. et al. Reversible and controllable threshold voltage modulation for n-channel MoS2 and p-channel MoTe2 field-effect transistors via multiple counter doping with ODTS/poly-L-lysine charge enhancers. Nano Res. 14, 3214–3227 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3523-8

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