Reconfigurable WSe2 transistors enabled by complementary electrostatic shielding of source and drain electrodes

Abstract

Reconfigurable field-effect transistors (RFETs) based on ambipolar two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors provide a versatile platform for multifunctional logic and neuromorphic computing. Traditional RFET architectures typically rely on horizontally arranged multi-gate structures to create tunable homojunctions, a design that imposes significant constraints on lateral scaling due to the required physical gaps between adjacent gates. In this work, we report a reconfigurable WSe2 transistor that achieves polarity control through a complementary electrostatic shielding mechanism. By employing an asymmetric contact configuration consisting of a top-contacted source and a bottom-contacted drain, we demonstrate that these electrodes can selectively shield the top-gate and back-gate fields, respectively. This architecture ensures that the back gate independently modulates carrier injection at the source junction while the top gate governs injection at the drain junction. Such a vertically decoupled dual-gating scheme enables a single device to exhibit robust reconfigurable n- and p-type characteristics with a scaled lateral channel length of ∼500 nm, which is a notable improvement over conventional split-gate RFETs based on 2D materials (∼2 μm). Furthermore, we demonstrate a complementary logic inverter based on this device that achieves a static power consumption below 10 pW. This study introduces a novel physical principle for RFET operation and offers a promising pathway for the continuous scaling of reconfigurable 2D electronics.