Effects of Oxygen Plasma Treatment on Fermi‐Level Pinning and Tunneling at the Metal–Semiconductor Interface of WSe₂ FETs

Abstract

Abstract Recently, 2D materials have been intensively investigated for their novel nanoelectronic applications; among these materials, tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ) is attracting substantial research interest due to its high mobility, sizable bandgap, and ambipolar characteristics. However, Fermi‐level pinning (FLP) at the metal–semiconductor contact is a critical issue preventing further integration of WSe 2 to complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In this study, a facile doping method of oxygen (O 2 ) plasma treatment and an aging effect to overcome the FLP of WSe 2 field‐effect transistors (FETs) are utilized. After aging, a reduction is observed in FLP on oxidized WSe 2 FETs, along with a decrease in pinning factor ( S ) for holes from −0.06 to −0.36. Further, the field‐effect mobility of high‐ (Pd) and low‐ (In) work‐function contacted WSe 2 devices indicates the presence of more improvement in high‐work‐function metal‐contacted p‐type WSe 2 FETs, which further strengthens the Fermi level de‐pinning behavior attributed to the O 2 plasma and aging processes. The existence of different tunneling behaviors of Pd and In devices also confirms the effect of O 2 plasma doping into WSe 2 FETs. Ultimately, this work demonstrates a simple and efficient method for achieving the de‐pinning of Fermi‐levels and modulating FLP of 2D FETs.