Gate-Tunable WSe₂/SnSe₂ Backward Diode with Ultrahigh-Reverse Rectification Ratio

Abstract

Backward diodes conduct more efficiently in the reverse bias than in the forward bias, providing superior high-frequency response, temperature stability, radiation hardness, and 1/f noise performance than a conventional diode conducting in the forward direction. Here, we demonstrate a van der Waals material-based backward diode by exploiting the giant staggered band offsets of WSe₂/SnSe₂ vertical heterojunction. The diode exhibits an ultrahigh-reverse rectification ratio (R) of ∼2.1 × 10⁴, and the same is maintained up to an unusually large bias of 1.5 V-outperforming existing backward diode reports using conventional bulk semiconductors as well as one- and two-dimensional materials by more than an order of magnitude while maintaining an impressive curvature coefficient (γ) of ∼37 V^-1. The transport mechanism in the diode is shown to be efficiently tunable by external gate and drain bias, as well as by the thickness of the WSe₂ layer and the type of metal contacts used. These results pave the way for practical electronic circuit applications using two-dimensional materials and their heterojunctions.