Abstract
The charge-density-wave (CDW) phase is a macroscopic quantum state consisting of a periodic modulation of the electronic charge density accompanied by a periodic distortion of the atomic lattice in quasi-1D or layered 2D metallic crystals1,2,3,4. Several layered transition metal dichalcogenides, including 1T-TaSe2, 1T-TaS2 and 1T-TiSe2 exhibit unusually high transition temperatures to different CDW symmetry-reducing phases1,5,6. These transitions can be affected by the environmental conditions, film thickness and applied electric bias1. However, device applications of these intriguing systems at room temperature or their integration with other 2D materials have not been explored. Here, we demonstrate room-temperature current switching driven by a voltage-controlled phase transition between CDW states in films of 1T-TaS2 less than 10 nm thick. We exploit the transition between the nearly commensurate and the incommensurate CDW phases, which has a transition temperature of 350 K and gives an abrupt change in current accompanied by hysteresis. An integrated graphene transistor provides a voltage-tunable, matched, low-resistance load enabling precise voltage control of the circuit. The 1T-TaS2 film is capped with hexagonal boron nitride to provide protection from oxidation. The integration of these three disparate 2D materials in a way that exploits the unique properties of each yields a simple, miniaturized, voltage-controlled oscillator suitable for a variety of practical applications.
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Acknowledgements
Nanofabrication and device testing were supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Nanoelectronic Research Initiative (NRI) for Project 2204.001 ‘Charge-Density-Wave Computational Fabric: New State Variables and Alternative Material Implementation’ (NSF ECCS-1124733) as a part of the Nanoelectronics for 2020 and beyond (NEB-2020) programme and by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) through STARnet Center for Function Accelerated nanoMaterial Engineering (FAME). Material synthesis and device simulations were supported by the Emerging Frontiers of Research Initiative (EFRI) 2-DARE project ‘Novel Switching Phenomena in Atomic MX2 Heterostructures for Multifunctional Applications’ (NSF 005400).
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A.A.B. coordinated the project and contributed to the experimental data analysis; R.K.L. led the theoretical analysis; T.T.S. supervised the material synthesis and contributed to the characterization of the materials; G.L. designed, fabricated and tested the devices and analysed the experimental data; T.R.P. synthesized TaS2 crystals; B.D. conducted computer simulations. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.
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Liu, G., Debnath, B., Pope, T. et al. A charge-density-wave oscillator based on an integrated tantalum disulfide–boron nitride–graphene device operating at room temperature. Nature Nanotech 11, 845–850 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.108
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.108
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