Stabilizing Electron Transport of 2D Materials

Abstract

2D materials are promising candidates for beyond-Si electronic devices. However, their stability is a key bottleneck in their industrial applications. The instability of 2D materials is mainly attributed to their intrinsic susceptibility to O₂ and H₂O—particularly to reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have strong oxidizing properties. Inspired by the antioxidant effect of vitamin C (VC) in organisms, a strategy based on the use of VC to stabilize electron transport in 2D materials is developed, which significantly improves the performance and stability of these materials and devices. The mobility is increased by more than an order of magnitude, and excellent performance of the device is maintained in air for >327 days, which is the best reported stability for MoS₂ field-effect transistors to date. VC scavenges existing ROS via oxidation reactions and inhibits the generation of ROS by shielding excitons from oxygen quenching, which provides 2D materials lasting protection from electron trapping and oxidative damage, stabilizing electron transport. This approach, which is based on the simple utilization of readily available VC, has considerable potential for large-scale applications in the 2D material electronics industry.