Scalable Fabrication of Edge Contacts to 2D Materials: Implications for Quantum Resistance Metrology and 2D Electronics

We report a reliable and scalable fabrication method for producing electrical contacts to two-dimensional (2D) materials based on the tri-layer resist system. We demonstrate the applicability of this method in devices fabricated on epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide (epigraphene) used as a scalable 2D material platform. For epigraphene, data on nearly 70 contacts result in median values of the one-dimensional (1D) specific contact resistances pc 67 omega center dot im and follow the Landauer quantum limit pc n-1/2, consistently reaching values pc < 50 omega center dot im at high carrier densityn. As a proof of concept, we apply the same fabrication method to the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Our edge contacts enable MoS2 field-effect transistor (FET) behavior with an ON/OFF ratio of >106 at room temperature (>109 at cryogenic temperatures). The fabrication route demonstrated here allows for contact metallization using thermal evaporation and also by sputtering, giving an additional flexibility when designing electrical interfaces, which is key in practical devices and when exploring the electrical properties of emerging materials.
Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) [GMT14-0077, RMA15-0024, FFL21-0129]; Chalmers Area of Advance Nano, Chalmers Area of Advance Energy, 2D TECH VINNOVA competence Center [2019-00068]; Marie Sklodowska-Curie [766025]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation [2019.0140]; Swedish Research Council VR [2021-05252, 2018-04962]