{
  "abstract": "The downscaling of silicon field-effect transistors is approaching fundamental limits, with the international roadmap for devices and systems (IRDS) projecting a 12 nm channel length plateau by 2037. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have emerged as promising candidates for extended transistor scaling. However, no experimental demonstration has thus far surpassed the fundamental switching limits of advanced silicon. Here, we report monolayer MoS₂ transistors with physical channel lengths below 5 nm, achieving a subthreshold swing of 88 mV/dec and an on/off ratio above 10⁶. These results surpass both the theoretical subthreshold limit of silicon and state-of-the-art emerging semiconductors-based transistors at comparable dimensions. To ensure high throughput, we develop a photolithography based, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible process and demonstrate 4-inch wafer-scale integration. We implement a design-technology co-optimization approach featuring an air-gap isolation and gate-contact overlap design to effectively suppress short channel effects. This work demonstrates subthreshold transport in a 2D semiconductor transistor beyond the silicon limit, showing a viable pathway for extending transistor scaling and energy-efficient computing.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.",
    "Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.",
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.",
    "Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.",
    "Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.",
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.",
    "Information Processing and Telecommunications Center, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.",
    "Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.",
    "Information Processing and Telecommunications Center, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. han.wang.4@usc.edu.",
    "Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. jingkong@mit.edu.",
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. guoj@ufl.edu.",
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. shengshe@andrew.cmu.edu.",
    "Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. shengshe@andrew.cmu.edu.",
    "Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. xuzh@cmu.edu.",
    "Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. xuzh@cmu.edu."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 19,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "S Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9546-8612"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "T Huang",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-7644-8088"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "N Yang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0767-6594"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "X Zheng",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-3783-7617"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "H Yang",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-9459-4929"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "H S Yun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "G Turner",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6295-7076"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Y Zhong",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-5741-9151"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "J Zou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "K Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1343-6068"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "J Wu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8751-7082"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "J Grajal",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8081-2815"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Y C Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0638-2620"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "K Y Xie",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8675-5321"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "H Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "J Kong",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0551-1208"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "J Guo",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4009-3056"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11,
        12
      ],
      "name": "S Shen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13,
        14
      ],
      "name": "X Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0474-5846"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7tzsj17as76n4.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41467-026-77186-9",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686972",
  "id": "7tzsj17as76n4",
  "issns": [
    "2041-1723"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907455",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2505|2D Materials and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213922082",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686972?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13686972",
  "pmid": "42907455",
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7tzsj17as76n4.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:57Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42907455",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907455"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2505|2D Materials and Applications",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Wafer-scale 2D MoS₂ transistors with sub-5 nm channel length and subthreshold performance beyond the silicon limit.",
  "title_text": "Wafer-scale 2D MoS₂ transistors with sub-5 nm channel length and subthreshold performance beyond the silicon limit.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:57Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7tzsj17as76n4",
  "venue": "Nature communications",
  "versions": []
}