Negative differential resistance in monolayer WTe2 tunneling transistors

Nanotechnology. 2015 May 1;26(17):175201. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/26/17/175201. Epub 2015 Apr 8.

Abstract

We report theoretical investigations of quantum transport in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs). Due to the specific electronic structure of TMDC WTe(2), a transmission valley is found in the conduction band (CB). For a proper choice of the doping, gate and supply voltages the WTe(2) TFET can produce a giant negative differential resistance (NDR) with a peak to valley ratio as large as 10(3). The mechanism of NDR is identified to be due to a transport-mode bottleneck, i.e., the band to band tunneling from the valence band of the source is partially blocked by a transmission valley of the CB of the drain. More generally, our calculations show that electronic structures of at least six TMDC materials possess the transmission valley.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't