2D materials are promising to overcome the scaling limit of Si field-effect transistors (FETs). However, the insulator/2D channel interface severely degrades the performance of 2D FETs, and the origin of the degradation remains largely unexplored. Here, the full energy spectra of the interface state densities (D it ) are presented for both n-and p-MoS 2 FETs, based on the comprehensive and systematic studies, i.e., full rage of channel thickness and various gate stack structures with h-BN as well as high-k oxides. For n-MoS 2 , D it around the mid-gap is drastically reduced to 5 × 10 11 cm −2 eV −1 for the heterostructure FET with h-BN from 5 × 10 12 cm −2 eV −1 for the high-k top-gate. On the other hand, D it remains high, ≈10 13 cm −2 eV −1 , even for the heterostructure FET for p-MoS 2 . The systematic study elucidates that the strain induced externally through the substrate surface roughness and high-k deposition process is the origin for the interface degradation on conduction band side, while sulfur-vacancy-induced defect states dominate the interface degradation on valance band side. The present understanding of the interface properties provides the key to further improving the performance of 2D FETs.

The sheet conductivity of a Au-covered Si͑557͒ facet surface was measured by microscopic four-point probe methods using an independently driven four-tip scanning tunneling microscope and temperature-variable monolithic probes. This surface is composed of a periodic array of Au chains and known to have a quasi-onedimensional metallic band structure. Its surface conductivities parallel to the Au chains ͑ ʈ ͒ and perpendicular to them ͑ Ќ ͒, were obtained separately at room temperature (RT), and the anisotropy ʈ / Ќ was ϳ3. The temperature dependence of the surface conductivity showed a semiconductive character below RT with an activation energy of ϳ55 meV. Then it can be concluded that the transport along the Au chains is not metallic band conduction.

We have investigated band discontinuities and chemical structures of Al2O3 gate insulator films on n-type GaN semiconductor by photoemission and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. It is found that the solid phase epitaxy at the GaN crystal during annealing procedures at 800 °C leads to phase transformation of Al2O3 films from amorphous to crystalline. Changes in crystallographic structures closely correlate with the significant increase in conduction band discontinuity at the Al2O3/GaN interface, which suggests that epitaxial Al2O3 films on GaN semiconductor, free from grain boundaries of Al2O3 polycrystalline, hold the potential for high insulation performance.

The key to achieving high-quality van der Waals heterostructure devices made by stacking twodimensional (2D) layered materials lies in having a clean interface without interfacial bubbles and wrinkles. In this study, the pinpoint pick-up and transfer system of 2D crystals is constructed using polymers with lens shapes. We report the bubble-free and clean-interface assembly of 2D crystals in which unidirectional sweep of the transfer interface precisely controlled with the help of the inclined substrate pushes the bubbles away from the interface.

In order to achieve nondestructive observation of the three-dimensional spatially resolved electronic structure of solids, we have developed a scanning photoelectron microscope system with the capability of depth profiling in electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). We call this system 3D nano-ESCA. For focusing the x-ray, a Fresnel zone plate with a diameter of 200 μm and an outermost zone width of 35 nm is used. In order to obtain the angular dependence of the photoelectron spectra for the depth-profile analysis without rotating the sample, we adopted a modified VG Scienta R3000 analyzer with an acceptance angle of 60° as a high-resolution angle-resolved electron spectrometer. The system has been installed at the University-of-Tokyo Materials Science Outstation beamline, BL07LSU, at SPring-8. From the results of the line-scan profiles of the poly-Si/high-k gate patterns, we achieved a total spatial resolution better than 70 nm. The capability of our system for pinpoint depth-profile analysis and high-resolution chemical state analysis is demonstrated.

Interfacial chemistry and band offsets of HfO2 films grown on Si(100) substrates are investigated using high-resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and are correlated with interfacial structures revealed by transmission electron microscope. Hf 4f and O 1s spectra show similar chemical shifts indicating the existence of a double layer structure consisting of a HfO2, upper layer and a SiO2-rich Hf1−xSixO2 lower layer. Two types of valence band offsets are clearly determined by a double subtraction method to be 3.0 and 3.8 eV that can be attributed to ΔEv1 for the upper layer HfO2/Si and ΔEv2 for the lower layer Hf1−xSixO2/Si, respectively.

Nanoscale spectromicroscopic characterizing technique is indispensable for realization of future high-speed graphene transistors. Highly spatially resolved soft X-ray photoelectron microscopy measurements have been performed using our “3D nano-ESCA” (three-dimensional nanoscale electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis) equipment in order to investigate the local electronic states at interfaces in a graphene device structure. We have succeeded in detecting a charge transfer region at the graphene/metal-electrode interface, which extends over ∼500 nm with the energy difference of 60 meV. Moreover, a nondestructive depth profiling reveals the chemical properties of the graphene/SiO2-substrate interface.

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