Metrology and physical mechanisms of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and devices.

Electronic devices surrounding us are getting faster and smarter at a very fast pace. One major enabler of this process is that transistors, i.e. the unit cell of these electronic devices, has been continuously scaled down, recently transitioning from a planar form to a three-dimensional design: FinFETs. Unfortunately, they are predicted to reach their limits within 5 years, posing the need for a new technology to fuel future nanoelectronics devices. To further increase the performance, co-integration of new materials and the replacement of the Si channel with 2D materials such as Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) are considered as promising strategies to maintain device performance while approaching the atom scale,enabling next-generation electronics. However,at present the integration and utilization of these devices is hampered by the poor understanding of the physics of 2D TMDs. This project proposes to study the nanoscopic nature of TMDs from the material to the device level,using multiple physical analysis techniques while developing a dedicated metrology framework. This will allow to screen and correlate structural,electrical and chemical properties of TMDs at the nanoscale,generating understandings on 2D semiconductors and fully-fabricated devices. We envision that by addressing the lack of dedicated metrology for 2D TMDs this project will lead to a shorter learning cycle,supporting the materials growth process and ultimately enhancing the device performance.