Sushant Sonde

Flexible Black Phosphorus Ambipolar Transistors, Circuits and AM Demodulator

High-mobility two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are desirable for high-performance mechanically flexible nanoelectronics. In this work, we report the first flexible black phosphorus (BP) field-effect transistors (FETs) with electron and hole mobilities superior to what has been previously achieved with other more studied flexible layered semiconducting transistors such as MoS2 and WSe2. Encapsulated bottom-gated BP ambipolar FETs on flexible polyimide afforded maximum carrier mobility of about 310 cm(2)/V·s with field-effect current modulation exceeding 3 orders of magnitude. The device ambipolar functionality and high-mobility were employed to realize essential circuits of electronic systems for flexible technology including ambipolar digital inverter, frequency doubler, and analog amplifiers featuring voltage gain higher than other reported layered semiconductor flexible amplifiers. In addition, we demonstrate the first flexible BP amplitude-modulated (AM) demodulator, an active stage useful for radio receivers, based on a single ambipolar BP transistor, which results in audible signals when connected to a loudspeaker or earphone. Moreover, the BP transistors feature mechanical robustness up to 2% uniaxial tensile strain and up to 5000 bending cycles.

Field Effect Transistors with Current Saturation and Voltage Gain in Ultrathin ReS2

We report the fabrication and device characteristics of exfoliated, few-layer, dual-gated ReS2 field effect transistors (FETs). The ReS2 FETs display n-type behavior with a room temperature Ion/I(off) of 10(5). Many devices were studied with a maximum intrinsic mobility of 12 cm(2) · V(-1) · s(-1) at room temperature and 26 cm(2) · V(-1) · s(-1) at 77 K. The Cr/Au-ReS2 contact resistance determined using the transfer length method is gate-bias dependent and ranges from 175 kΩ · μm to 5 kΩ · μm, and shows an exponential dependence on back-gate voltage indicating Schottky barriers at the source and drain contacts. Dual-gated ReS2 FETs demonstrate current saturation, voltage gain, and a subthreshold swing of 148 mV/decade.

Two-dimensional weak anti-localization in Bi2Te3 thin film grown on Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface by molecular beam epitaxy

We report on low temperature transport studies of Bi2Te3 topological insulator thin films grown on Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface by molecular beam epitaxy. A sharp increase in the magnetoresistance with magnetic field at low temperature indicates the existence of weak anti-localization. The measured weak anti-localization effect agrees well with the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka model, and the extracted phase coherence length shows a power-law dependence with temperature indicating the existence of a two-dimensional system. An insulating ground state has also been observed at low temperature showing a logarithmic divergence of the resistance that appears to be the influence of electron-electron interaction in a two-dimensional system.

Self-aligned graphene field-effect transistors with polyethyleneimine doped source/drain access regions

We report a method of fabricating self-aligned, top-gated graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) employing polyethyleneimine spin-on-doped source/drain access regions, resulting in a 2X reduction of access resistance and a 2.5X improvement in device electrical characteristics, over undoped devices. The GFETs on Si/SiO2 substrates have high carrier mobilities of up to 6300 cm2/Vs. Self-aligned spin-on-doping is applicable to GFETs on arbitrary substrates, as demonstrated by a 3X enhancement in performance for GFETs on insulating quartz substrates, which are better suited for radio frequency applications.

Characterization and sonochemical synthesis of black phosphorus from red phosphorus

Phosphorene is a new two-dimensional material which is commonly prepared by exfoliation from black phosphorus bulk crystals that historically have been synthesized from white phosphorus under high-pressure conditions. The few layers of phosphorene have a direct band gap in the range of 0.3–2 eV and high mobility at room temperature comparable to epitaxial graphene. These characteristics can be used for the design of high speed digital circuits, radio frequency circuits, flexible and printed systems, and optoelectronic devices. In this work, we synthesized black phosphorus from red phosphorus, which is a safer solid precursor, using sonochemistry. Furthermore, via a variety of microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, we report characterization results of the sonochemically synthesized black phosphorus in addition to the commercial black phosphorus. Finally, we describe the air stability of black phosphors and the crystalline structure of the synthesized material. This is the first result of sonochemical or solution-based synthesis of black phosphorus based on readily available low-cost red phosphorus. This solution-based synthesis of black phosphorus is suitable for printable applications of nanomaterial.

Improvement of graphene field-effect transistors by hexamethyldisilazane surface treatment

We report the improvement of the electrical characteristics of graphene field-effect transistors (FETs) by hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) treatment. Both electron and hole field-effect mobilities are increased by 1.5 × –2×, accompanied by effective residual carrier concentration reduction. Dirac point also moves closer to zero Volt. Time evolution of mobility data shows that mobility improvement saturates after a few hours of HMDS treatment. Temperature-dependent transport measurements show small mobility variation between 77 K and room temperature (295 K) before HMDS application. But mobility at 77 K is almost 2 times higher than mobility at 295 K after HMDS application, indicating reduced carrier scattering. Performance improvement is also observed for FETs made on hydrophobic substrate—an HMDS-graphene-HMDS sandwich structure. Raman spectroscopic analysis shows that G peak width is increased, G peak position is down shifted, and intensity ratio between 2D and G peaks is increased after HMDS application. We attribute the improvements in electronic transport mainly to enhanced screening and mitigation of adsorbed impurities from graphene surface upon HMDS treatment.

Strong spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman spin splitting in angle dependent magnetoresistance of Bi2Te3

We have studied angle dependent magnetoresistance of Bi2Te3 thin film with field up to 9 T over 2–20 K temperatures. The perpendicular field magnetoresistance has been explained by the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka theory alone in a system with strong spin-orbit coupling, from which we have estimated the mean free path, the phase coherence length, and the spin-orbit relaxation time. We have obtained the out-of-plane spin-orbit relaxation time to be small and the in-plane spin-orbit relaxation time to be comparable to the momentum relaxation time. The estimation of these charge and spin transport parameters are useful for spintronics applications. For parallel field magnetoresistance, we have confirmed the presence of Zeeman effect which is otherwise suppressed in perpendicular field magnetoresistance due to strong spin-orbit coupling. The parallel field data have been explained using both the contributions from the Maekawa-Fukuyama localization theory for non-interacting electrons and Lee-Ramakrishnan theory of electron-electron interactions. The estimated Zeeman g-factor and the strength of Coulomb screening parameter agree well with the theory. Finally, the anisotropy in magnetoresistance with respect to angle has been described by the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka theory. This anisotropy can be used in anisotropic magnetic sensor applications.

Atomristor: Nonvolatile Resistance Switching in Atomic Sheets of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) atomic sheets have inspired new ideas in nanoscience including topologically protected charge transport,1,2 spatially separated excitons,3 and strongly anisotropic heat transport.4 Here, we report the intriguing observation of stable nonvolatile resistance switching (NVRS) in single-layer atomic sheets sandwiched between metal electrodes. NVRS is observed in the prototypical semiconducting (MX2, M = Mo, W; and X = S, Se) transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDs),5 which alludes to the universality of this phenomenon in TMD monolayers and offers forming-free switching. This observation of NVRS phenomenon, widely attributed to ionic diffusion, filament, and interfacial redox in bulk oxides and electrolytes,6-9 inspires new studies on defects, ion transport, and energetics at the sharp interfaces between atomically thin sheets and conducting electrodes. Our findings overturn the contemporary thinking that nonvolatile switching is not scalable to subnanometre owing to leakage currents.10 Emerging device concepts in nonvolatile flexible memory fabrics, and brain-inspired (neuromorphic) computing could benefit substantially from the wide 2D materials design space. A new major application, zero-static power radio frequency (RF) switching, is demonstrated with a monolayer switch operating to 50 GHz.

Improved contact resistance in ReSe2 thin film field-effect transistors

We report the fabrication and device characteristics of exfoliated, few-layer, ReSe2 field effect transistors (FET) and a method to improve contact resistance by up to three orders of magnitude using ultra-high-vacuum annealing (UHV). Many devices were studied in the absence of light and we found an average contact of 750 Ω · cm after UHV treatment. The median FET metrics were similar to other transition metal dichalcogenides: field effect mobility ∼6.7 cm2/V · s, subthreshold swing ∼1.2 V/decade, and Ion/Ioff ∼ 105. In devices with low Rc current saturation was observed and is attributed to injection limited transport.

Oxidized titanium as a gate dielectric for graphene field effect transistors and its tunneling mechanisms.

We fabricate and characterize a set of dual-gated graphene field effect transistors using a novel physical vapor deposition technique in which titanium is evaporated onto the graphene channel in 10 Å cycles and oxidized in ambient to form a top-gate dielectric. A combination of X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and transmission electron microscopy suggests that the titanium is oxidizing in situ to titanium dioxide. Electrical characterization of our devices yields a dielectric constant of κ = 6.9 with final mobilities above 5500 cm(2)/(V s). Low temperature analysis of the gate-leakage current in the devices gives a potential barrier of 0.78 eV in the conduction band and a trap depth of 45 meV below the conduction band.