Proton intercalated two-dimensional WO3 nano-flakes with enhanced charge-carrier mobility at room temperature

Quasi two-dimensional (Q2D) semiconducting metal oxides with enhanced charge carrier mobility hold tremendous promise for nano-electronics, photonics, catalysis, nano-sensors and electrochromic applications. In addition to graphene and metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te), 2D sub-stoichiometric WO3-x is gaining importance as a promising semiconductor material for field-effect-transistor (FET) based devices. A combination of high permittivity, suppression of the Coulomb effects, and their stratified structure enhances the carrier mobility in such a material. Additionally, the sub-stoichiometry of this semiconductor oxide allows the reduction of the bandgap and increase of the free charge carriers at the same time. Here, we report for the first time H+ intercalated WO3 FETs, made of Q2D nano-flakes, with enhanced charge-carrier mobility exceeding 319 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) comparable with the charge-carrier mobility of Q2D dichalcogenides MoS2 and WSe2. Analyses indicate that the enhanced electrical properties of the sub-stoichiometric WO3-x depend on the oxygen vacancies in the intercalated nano-flakes. These findings confirmed that Q2D sub-stoichiometric WO3-x is a promising material for various functional FET devices.