Tribotronic Vertical Field-Effect Transistor Based on van der Waals Heterostructures

Abstract

Graphene has attracted considerable interest for next-generation electronics. However, the absence of natural bandgap has limited the current on/off ratio of graphene-based transistors. Vertical integration of 2D heterostructures offers a promising approach to address this challenge, enabling high-current-density vertical field-effect transistor (VFET) with large on/off ratio. Here, a triboelectric potential-powered VFET with a vertical stacked graphene/MoS2 heterostructure and a sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) coupled with gate dielectrics are proposed. The tribotronic VFET has an ultrashort channel length in vertical direction, exhibiting excellent current driving capability with an ultrahigh on-state current density of 950 A cm−2 and a good current on/off ratio of 630. It also demonstrates reconfigurable diode behavior with a rectification ratio over 102. Temperature-dependent studies are applied to tribotronic devices for the first time, indicating an effective modulation on the Schottky barrier height of 150 meV by the triboelectric potential. A green LED pixel is driven by the tribotronic VFET as a demonstration to work as a tactile interactive light-emitting device. The demonstrated tribotronic vertical device offers a promising strategy for integrating various 2D layered materials with TENG in vertical direction, enabling 3D integration of low-power and interactive devices for next-generation electronics.