Thickness-modulated lateral MoS2 diodes with sub-terahertz cutoff frequency

Thickness-modulated lateral MoS2 diodes with an extracted benchmark cutoff frequency (fc) of up to 126 GHz are implemented and fully characterised. Fabricated diodes demonstrate an on–off current ratio of more than 600 and a short circuit current responsivity at zero-bias of 7 A/W. The excellent performance achieved in our device is attributed to reduced contact resistance from using In/Au contacts and low junction capacitance due to the lateral device structure. In addition, the use of multilayer MoS2 crystals enabled relatively high current flow. Small- and large-signal models are extracted from DC and RF characterisation of the fabricated diode prototype. Extracted compact models are compared to the measured DC and S-parameters of the diode, demonstrating excellent matching between models and measurements. The presented diode is suitable for switching circuits and high frequency applications.