Impact of doping and channel inhomogeneities on the stability of industrially fabricated WS2 FETs

Impact of doping and channel inhomogeneities on the stability of industrially fabricated WS2 FETs | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Impact of doping and channel inhomogeneities on the stability of industrially fabricated WS2 FETs Luca Panarella, Ben Kaczer, Quentin Smets, Thomas Nuytten, Benoit Van Troeye, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7320548/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in npj 2D Materials and Applications → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We report doping-dependent charge trapping in WS2 field-effect transistors fabricated on a 300~mm wafer. In particular, higher n-type doping—associated with smaller channel areas—correlates with an increased density of active defects. This behavior explains the asymmetric threshold voltage degradation observed in large-area ambipolar devices, where the n-branch consistently shifts more than the p-branch under gate bias stress (by a factor of ~3). Through electrical characterization and photoluminescence mapping, we attribute this asymmetry to process-induced inhomogeneities in the WS2 layer and its chemical environment, which lead to enhanced n-type doping at the channel center relative to the edges. The non-uniform doping profile and conduction of the 2D channel are then captured using an equivalent circuit model that quantitatively reproduces the observed degradation asymmetry and corroborates our interpretation. These results have important implications for the development of large-scale 2D semiconductor transistors, highlighting the impact of unintentional process-induced doping and channel heterogeneity on device performance and reliability. Physical sciences/Materials science Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology Physical sciences/Physics 2D materials WS2 TMDs field-effect transistors 2D FETs doping defects BTI reliability Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in npj 2D Materials and Applications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 25 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 13 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 11 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 07 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7320548","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502097578,"identity":"8276df17-6c8d-40a7-8fa3-b60939507e75","order_by":0,"name":"Luca 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