Vacuum gauge from ultrathin MoS2 transistor

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that monolayer MoS2 transistors can function as low-power vacuum gauges by exploiting pressure-dependent adsorption effects that influence their electrical properties.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel application of ultrathin MoS2 transistors as vacuum gauges, highlighting their sensitivity to pressure changes through threshold voltage shifts.

Findings

Threshold voltage increases with pressure.

Device effectively detects pressure variations.

Suitable for low power vacuum sensing.

Abstract

We fabricate monolayer MoS2 field effect transistors and study their electric characteristics from 10^-6 Torr to atmospheric air pressure. We show that the threshold voltage of the transistor increases with the growing pressure. Hence, we propose the device as an air pressure sensor, showing that it is particularly suitable as a low power consumption vacuum gauge. The device functions on pressure-dependent O2, N2 and H2O molecule adsorption that affect the n-doping of the MoS2 channel.