Steep-slope hysteresis-free negative capacitance MoS₂ transistors

The so-called Boltzmann tyranny defines the fundamental thermionic limit of the subthreshold slope of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) at 60 mV dec^-1 at room temperature and therefore precludes lowering of the supply voltage and overall power consumption ^1,2 . Adding a ferroelectric negative capacitor to the gate stack of a MOSFET may offer a promising solution to bypassing this fundamental barrier ³ . Meanwhile, two-dimensional semiconductors such as atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenides, due to their low dielectric constant and ease of integration into a junctionless transistor topology, offer enhanced electrostatic control of the channel ^4-12 . Here, we combine these two advantages and demonstrate a molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) two-dimensional steep-slope transistor with a ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide layer in the gate dielectric stack. This device exhibits excellent performance in both on and off states, with a maximum drain current of 510 μA μm^-1 and a sub-thermionic subthreshold slope, and is essentially hysteresis-free. Negative differential resistance was observed at room temperature in the MoS₂ negative-capacitance FETs as the result of negative capacitance due to the negative drain-induced barrier lowering. A high on-current-induced self-heating effect was also observed and studied.