Skip to content

In the world of silicon semiconductors, the process of creating transistors and similar structures involves various rounds of modifications and additions in order to create the requisite functional layers. A less involved approach would simply create these structures in-situ, with research the past years having focused on transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers to do exactly this. Recently [Seok Young Min] et al. reported (paywalled, Phys.org summary ) on creating transistors in-situ in a tungsten ditelluride (WTe 2 ) monolayer.

By selectively changing parts of the top layer into tungsten oxide (WO x ) as an insulator and other sections into n-type WS 2 and p-type WSe 2 the researchers were able to create functional MOSFETs, without the normally requisite grafting on of different materials.…