Dependence of intrinsic performance of transition metal dichalcogenide transistors on materials and number of layers at the 5 nm channel-length limit

The optimal performance of ultimately scaled transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) FETs for four different materials and one to five layers is investigated using ballistic quantum transport calculations with material properties derived from first-principles. Large bandgaps and effective masses are shown to result in excellent switching performance at 5 nm gate lengths, thus showing potential for low-power applications. However, achievable current falls short of ITRS low operating power specifications.