Scaling High-Performance Nanoribbon Transistors with Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Nanoscale transistors require aggressive reduction of all channel dimensions: length, width, and thickness. While monolayer two-dimensional semiconductors (2DS) offer ultimate thickness scaling, good performance has largely been achieved only in micrometer-wide channels. Here, we demonstrate both n- and p-type nanoribbon transistors based on monolayer 2DS, fabricated using a multi-patterning process, reaching channel widths down to 25 nm and lengths down to 50 nm. 'Anchored' contacts improve device yield, while nanoscale imaging, including tip-enhanced photoluminescence, reveals minimal edge degradation. The devices reach on-state currents up to 560, 420, and 130 $μ$A $μ$m⁻¹ at 1 V drain-to-source voltage for n-type MoS₂, WS₂, and p-type WSe₂, respectively, integrated with thin high-$κ$ dielectrics. These results surpass prior reports for single-gated nanoribbons, the WS₂ by over 100 times, even in normally-off (enhancement-mode) transistors. Taken together, these findings suggest that top down patterned 2DS nanoribbons are promising building blocks for future nanosheet transistors.