Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2025

A Standard and Reliable Method to Fabricate Two-Dimensional Nanoelectronics
Published on: August 28, 2018
Medium-scale flexible integrated circuits based on 2D semiconductors
Yalin Peng1,2, Chenyang Cui1,3, Lu Li1,3
1Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, combining remarkable electrical properties and mechanical flexibility, offer fascinating opportunities for flexible integrated circuits (ICs). Despite notable progress, so far the showcased 2D flexible ICs have been constrained to basic logic gates and ring oscillators with a maximum integration scale of a few thin film transistors (TFTs), creating a significant disparity in terms of circuit scale and functionality. Here, we demonstrate medium-scale flexible ICs integrating both combinational and sequential elements based on 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). By co-optimization of the fabrication processes, flexible MoS2 TFTs with high device yield and homogeneity are implemented, as well as flexible NMOS inverters with robust rail-to-rail operation. Further, typical IC modules, such as NAND, XOR, half-adder and latch, are created on flexible substrates. Finally, a medium-scale flexible clock division module consisting of 112 MoS2 TFTs is demonstrated based on an edge-triggered Flip-Flop circuit. Our work scales up 2D flexible ICs to medium-scale, showing promising developments for various applications, including internet of everything, health monitoring and implantable electronics.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Semiconductors
Semiconductors
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Schottky Barriers
Schottky barriers arise when a metal with a work function (Φm) contacts a semiconductor with a different work function (Φs). Initially, electrons transfer until the Fermi levels of the metal and semiconductor align at equilibrium. For instance, if Φm > Φs, the semiconductor Fermi level is higher than the metal's before contact. The...

