2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors
Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors hold great promise for future electronics, yet the fabrication of clean ohmic electrical contacts remains a key challenge. Traditional lithography and metallization processes often introduce interfacial disorder, and recently developed electrode-transfer-...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59174-7 |
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| author | Min Yue Kenan Zhang Mei Zhao Yinan Wang Dong Li Jieyuan Liang Biyuan Zheng Chao Zou Yu Ye Peijian Wang Lijie Zhang Shun Wang |
| author_facet | Min Yue Kenan Zhang Mei Zhao Yinan Wang Dong Li Jieyuan Liang Biyuan Zheng Chao Zou Yu Ye Peijian Wang Lijie Zhang Shun Wang |
| author_sort | Min Yue |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors hold great promise for future electronics, yet the fabrication of clean ohmic electrical contacts remains a key challenge. Traditional lithography and metallization processes often introduce interfacial disorder, and recently developed electrode-transfer-based techniques are difficult to implement without contaminating the interfaces between 2D crystals and metals. Here, we demonstrate a low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-based van der Waals (vdW) epitaxy method to grow 2D metal (Cd) electrodes, eliminating lithography, deposition, or transfer processes and enabling the damage-free integration of 2D semiconductors. This thermodynamic integration strategy significantly mitigates the interfacial disorder and metal-induced gap states (MIGS), leading to low contact resistance (R C) and near-zero barrier ohmic contacts. Cd-MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs) exhibit R C down to 70–100 Ω·μm, on-state current densities up to 942 μA/μm, on/off ratios exceeding 108, and mobilities up to 160 cm2 V−1 s−1. These results position vdW epitaxially grown 2D metals as a promising contact technology for next-generation electronics beyond silicon. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7051616775e34d8aa46d007b6b8f252e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-7051616775e34d8aa46d007b6b8f252e2025-08-20T03:52:24ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-04-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-59174-72D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistorsMin Yue0Kenan Zhang1Mei Zhao2Yinan Wang3Dong Li4Jieyuan Liang5Biyuan Zheng6Chao Zou7Yu Ye8Peijian Wang9Lijie Zhang10Shun Wang11Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan UniversityKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityState Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou UniversityAbstract Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors hold great promise for future electronics, yet the fabrication of clean ohmic electrical contacts remains a key challenge. Traditional lithography and metallization processes often introduce interfacial disorder, and recently developed electrode-transfer-based techniques are difficult to implement without contaminating the interfaces between 2D crystals and metals. Here, we demonstrate a low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-based van der Waals (vdW) epitaxy method to grow 2D metal (Cd) electrodes, eliminating lithography, deposition, or transfer processes and enabling the damage-free integration of 2D semiconductors. This thermodynamic integration strategy significantly mitigates the interfacial disorder and metal-induced gap states (MIGS), leading to low contact resistance (R C) and near-zero barrier ohmic contacts. Cd-MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs) exhibit R C down to 70–100 Ω·μm, on-state current densities up to 942 μA/μm, on/off ratios exceeding 108, and mobilities up to 160 cm2 V−1 s−1. These results position vdW epitaxially grown 2D metals as a promising contact technology for next-generation electronics beyond silicon.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59174-7 |
| spellingShingle | Min Yue Kenan Zhang Mei Zhao Yinan Wang Dong Li Jieyuan Liang Biyuan Zheng Chao Zou Yu Ye Peijian Wang Lijie Zhang Shun Wang 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors Nature Communications |
| title | 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors |
| title_full | 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors |
| title_fullStr | 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors |
| title_full_unstemmed | 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors |
| title_short | 2D Cd metal contacts via low-temperature van der Waals epitaxy towards high-performance 2D transistors |
| title_sort | 2d cd metal contacts via low temperature van der waals epitaxy towards high performance 2d transistors |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59174-7 |
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