Light-Programmed Robust Transport via Photon-Assisted Tunneling in a van der Waals Heterostructure

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Quantum Transport
• Materials Science

Background:

• Optoelectronic systems face challenges with signal instability caused by electrical noise and voltage fluctuations.
• Conventional devices struggle to achieve multifunctional logic operations with high interference immunity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel photon-assisted Fowler-Nordheim tunneling regulator for stable optoelectronic sensing-computing.
• To demonstrate voltage-immune constant current output and reconfigurable logic operations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a SnS₂/WSe₂ van der Waals heterostructure for the device.
• Implemented a gate-activated, light-programming strategy to control photon-assisted tunneling.
• Constructed NOT and NAND logic gates leveraging the device's properties.

Main Results:

• Achieved a voltage-immune constant current output.
• Demonstrated a NOT logic gate with a switching ratio of 10⁴.
• Showcased a NAND logic gate with high noise immunity (CV ~ 1%), effectively filtering input signal jitter.

Conclusions:

• The photon-assisted tunneling regulator enables both analog signal conditioning and digital logic operations.
• Light programming offers potential for controlling quantum transport processes.
• The device serves as a prototype for interference-resistant, multimodal integrated optoelectronic systems.