Approaching ohmic contact to two-dimensional semiconductors

Two-dimensional semiconductors have attracted immense research interests owing to their intriguing properties and promising applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the performance of these devices is drastically hindered by the large Schottky barrier at the electric contact interface, which is hardly tunable due to the Fermi level pinning effect. In this review, we will analyze the root causes of the contact problems for the two-dimensional semiconductor devices and summarize the strategies on the basis of different contact geometries, aiming to lift out the Fermi level pinning effect and achieve the ohmic contact. Moreover, the remarkable improvement of the device performance thanks to these optimized contacts will be emphasized. At the end, the merits and limitations of these strategies will be discussed as well, which potentially gives a guideline for handling the electric contact issues in two-dimensional semiconductors devices. (C) 2019 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved.