Congratulations to Mr. Zheng Haofei, a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Ang Kah Wee from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), for winning the Student Poster Award (Second Place) at the prestigious 2025 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) Conference held in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
This conference brought together leading global researchers to showcase the latest breakthroughs in the synthesis of 2D materials and their applications in electronics, photonics, and emerging technologies. Haofei’s poster, titled “CMOS-Compatible Integration of Ultrathin High-κ HfOx on 2D Semiconductors for High-Performance Dual-Gate Transistors,” was recognized for its originality and contributions to advancing the future of semiconductor technology.
With conventional silicon scaling approaching its physical limits, sustaining Moore’s law will require breakthroughs in both device architectures and channel materials. Two-dimensional semiconductors such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation transistors. However, a major challenge lies in achieving the integration of ultrathin, uniform high-κ dielectrics on these atomically thin surfaces, which lack the dangling bonds required for conformal oxide growth through atomic layer deposition (ALD). Haofei’s research addresses this longstanding challenge by developing a CMOS-compatible method to integrate sub-3 nm high-κ hafnium oxide (HfOx) on MoS₂. Leveraging this approach, he successfully fabricated dual-gate MoS₂ transistors that achieved a near-ideal subthreshold swing (SS) of 60 mV dec⁻¹ and an ultra-low capacitance equivalent thickness (CET) of 0.7 nm. These results not only demonstrate excellent electrostatic control but also meet the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) performance targets for scaling to 1 nm technology node.
