Improved Current Density and Contact Resistance in Bilayer MoSe2 Field Effect Transistors by AlOx Capping

Atomically thin semiconductors are of interest for future electronics applications, and much attention has been given to monolayer (1L) sulfides, such as MoS 2 , grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, reports on the electrical properties of CVD-grown selenides, and MoSe 2 in particular, are scarce. Here, we compare the electrical properties of 1L and bilayer (2L) MoSe 2 grown by CVD and capped by sub-stoichiometric AlO x . The 2L channels exhibit ∼20× lower contact resistance ( R C ) and ∼30× larger current density compared with 1L channels. R C is further reduced by >5× with AlO x capping, which enables improved transistor current density. Overall, 2L AlO x -capped MoSe 2 transistors (with ∼500 nm channel length) achieve improved current density (∼65 μA/μm at V DS = 4 V), a good I on / I off ratio of >10 6 , and an R C of ∼60 kΩ·μm. The weaker performance of 1L devices is due to their sensitivity to processing and ambient. Our results suggest that 2L (or few layers) is preferable to 1L for improved electronic properties in applications that do not require a direct band gap, which is a key finding for future two-dimensional electronics.