Transferred via contacts as a platform for ideal two-dimensional transistors

Two-dimensional semiconductors have a number of valuable properties that could be used to create novel electronic devices. However, creating 2D devices with good contacts and stable performance has proved challenging. Here we show that transferred via contacts, made from metal embedded in insulating hexagonal boron nitride and dry transferred onto 2D semiconductors, can be used to create high-quality 2D transistors. The approach prevents damage induced by direct metallization and allows full glovebox processing, providing a clean, stable and damage-free platform for 2D device fabrication. Using the approach, we create field-effect transistors (FETs) from bilayer p-type tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ) that exhibit high hole mobility and low contact resistance. The fabricated devices also exhibit high current and stability for over two months of measurements. Furthermore, the low contact resistance and clean channel allow us to create a nearly ideal top-gated p-FET with a subthreshold swing of 64 mV per decade at 290 K. Bilayer WSe 2 field-effect transistors with near ideal device characteristics can be created using transferred via contacts made from metal-embedded hexagonal boron nitride.