Flexible Two-Dimensional Transistor Technologies

Flexible two-dimensional transistor technologies exploit atomically thin semiconductors, such as transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene, integrated on bendable substrates to create electronic devices that retain high performance under mechanical stress. These transistors typically employ a field-effect architecture in which a gate electrode modulates charge transport through a two-dimensional channel separated by an ultrathin dielectric. Fabrication approaches range from mechanical exfoliation of bulk crystals to scalable chemical vapour deposition and solution processing of nanoscale flakes. Interface engineering, including dielectric selection and contact optimisation, has driven down parasitic resistance and hysteresis, enabling low-voltage operation, high on/off current ratios and cut-off frequencies in the gigahertz regime. Layered heterostructures and phase-patterning techniques afford precise control over doping profiles and channel morphology, paving the way for complementary logic, radio-frequency amplifiers and multifunctional sensor arrays. The combination of minimal thickness, mechanical flexibility and electronic tunability opens pathways toward wearable electronics, foldable displays, implantable biomedical systems and distributed internet-of-things nodes, highlighting the global significance of flexible two-dimensional transistors in next-generation electronics.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Research from all publishers

Recent reviews have synthesised progress in integrating two-dimensional materials into flexible electronic architectures, covering 2D–polymer composites, van der Waals heterostructures and hybrid energy-storage and conversion modules. These analyses emphasise the importance of machine-learning-guided design for multifunctional wearable devices that combine sensing, computing and power delivery within a single flexible platform. A complementary perspective has evaluated transition metal dichalcogenide transistors under two deployment scenarios: high-quality, chemically grown monolayers and few-layer films for nanoscale high-frequency devices, and solution-deposited flakes for low-cost, large-area fabrication. This work highlights strategies for achieving both p-type and n-type channels with balanced performance and benchmarks thin-film transistors against alternative flexible semiconductors. In demonstration of flexible high-frequency operation, bilayer MoS₂ transistors grown by chemical vapour deposition on polyimide substrates have achieved extrinsic cut-off frequencies around 4 GHz and maximum oscillation frequencies near 10 GHz, alongside functional gigahertz mixers. These advances confirm the potential of two-dimensional semiconductors to underpin radio-frequency circuits in bendable and wearable applications.

Flexible Two-Dimensional Transistor Technologies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in flexible two-dimensional transistor technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Two-dimensional (2D) materials: Atomically thin crystals with strong in-plane covalent bonds and weak interlayer van der Waals interactions.

Field-effect transistor (FET): A device in which an applied gate voltage controls the conductivity of a semiconductor channel.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs): Layered semiconducting compounds of the form MX₂ (M = transition metal; X = chalcogen) possessing tunable bandgaps in monolayer form.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD): A bottom-up method for synthesising large-area thin films by chemical reaction of gaseous precursors.

Contact resistance: The electrical resistance encountered at the interface between a metal electrode and a semiconductor channel.

References

1. Boosting flexible electronics with integration of two‐dimensional materials. InfoMat (2024).
2. Potential of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Transistors for Flexible Electronics Applications. Advanced Electronic Materials (2023).
3. High-Performance CVD Bilayer MoS2 Radio Frequency Transistors and Gigahertz Mixers for Flexible Nanoelectronics. Micromachines (2021).
4. Polymer/oxide bilayer dielectric for hysteresis-minimized 1 V operating 2D TMD transistors. RSC Advances (2018).