Effect of Electron Irradiation on the Transport and Field Emission Properties of Few-Layer MoS2 Field Effect Transistors

TL;DR

This study investigates how electron irradiation affects the electrical transport and field emission properties of few-layer MoS2 transistors, revealing significant mobility enhancement and potential for cold-cathode applications.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of electron beam irradiation on MoS2 transistors and demonstrates their potential as stable cold-cathode emitters.

Findings

Carrier mobility increased after irradiation

Transistor current increased up to three orders of magnitude

MoS2 shows stable field emission with low turn-on field

Abstract

Electrical characterization of few-layer MoS2 based field effect transistors with Ti/Au electrodes is performed in the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope in order to study the effects of electron beam irradiation on the transport properties of the device. A negative threshold voltage shift and a carrier mobility enhancement is observed and explained in terms of positive charges trapped in the SiO2 gate oxide, during the irradiation. The transistor channel current is increased up to three order of magnitudes after the exposure to an irradiation dose of 100e-/nm2. Finally, a complete field emission characterization of the MoS2 flake, achieving emission stability for several hours and a minimum turn-on field of about 20 V/um with a field enhancement factor of about 500 at anode-cathode distance of 1.5um, demonstrates the suitability of few-layer MoS2 as two-dimensional emitting surface for cold-cathode applications.