Reconfigurable transistors based on van der Waals heterostructures

Reconfigurable transistors can enable the design of highly compact logic circuits to realize more complex systems due to their ability to program polarity during run-time. Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) are of particular interest as the channel material for reconfigurable transistors because of their unique gate-tunable electronic properties. In this paper, we introduce electrostatically reconfigurable transistors based on vertical and lateral TMDC heterostructures. The external vertical electric field in the source/drain contact regions can selectively facilitate one type of carrier injection, hence controlling the polarity of the device. Strong and tunable unipolar conduction was achieved for reconfigurable transistors based on vertical and lateral TMDC heterostructures with two different measurement setups. These reconfigurable logic devices possess the potential to function as critical components for next-generation computing systems. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]