Homogeneous 2D MoTe2 p-n Junctions and CMOS Inverters formed by Atomic-Layer-Deposition-Induced Doping

Abstract

Recently, alpha-MoTe2, a 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD), has shown outstanding properties, aiming at future electronic devices. Such TMD structures without surface dangling bonds make the 2D alpha-MoTe2 a more favorable candidate than conventional 3D Si on the scale of a few nanometers. The bandgap of thin alpha-MoTe2 appears close to that of Si and is quite smaller than those of other typical TMD semiconductors. Even though there have been a few attempts to control the charge-carrier polarity of MoTe2, functional devices such as p-n junction or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverters have not been reported. Here, we demonstrate a 2D CMOS inverter and p-n junction diode in a single alpha-MoTe2 nanosheet by a straightforward selective doping technique. In a single alpha-MoTe2 flake, an initially p-doped channel is selectively converted to an n-doped region with high electron mobility of 18 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) by atomic-layer-deposition-induced H-doping. The ultrathin CMOS inverter exhibits a high DC voltage gain of 29, an AC gain of 18 at 1 kHz, and a low static power consumption of a few nanowatts. The results show a great potential of alpha-MoTe2 for future electronic devices based on 2D semiconducting materials.