Anti‐Ambipolar Heterojunctions: Materials, Devices, and Circuits

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 36; no. 17; pp. e2306290 - n/a
• Main Authors: Meng, You, Wang, Weijun, Wang, Wei, Li, Bowen, Zhang, Yuxuan, Ho, Johnny
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2024
• Subjects: anti‐ambipolar transistors; Circuit design; Circuits; Devices; Frequency doublers; Gates (circuits); Heterojunctions; homojunctions; Integrated circuits; Logic circuits; Multivalued logic; multivalued logic circuits; negative differential transconductance; Strategic materials; negative differential transconductance; anti‐ambipolar transistors; homojunctions; multivalued logic circuits; heterojunctions
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202306290

Anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions are vital in constructing high‐frequency oscillators, fast switches, and multivalued logic (MVL) devices, which hold promising potential for next‐generation integrated circuit chips and telecommunication technologies. Thanks to the strategic material design and device integration, anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions have demonstrated unparalleled device and circuit performance that surpasses other semiconducting material systems. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the achievements in the field of anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions. First, the fundamental operating mechanisms of anti‐ambipolar devices are discussed. After that, potential materials used in anti‐ambipolar devices are discussed with particular attention to 2D‐based, 1D‐based, and organic‐based heterojunctions. Next, the primary device applications employing anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions, including anti‐ambipolar transistors (AATs), photodetectors, frequency doublers, and synaptic devices, are summarized. Furthermore, alongside the advancements in individual devices, the practical integration of these devices at the circuit level, including topics such as MVL circuits, complex logic gates, and spiking neuron circuits, is also discussed. Lastly, the present key challenges and future research directions concerning anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions and their applications are also emphasized. Anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions hold promising potential for next‐generation integrated circuit chips and telecommunication technologies, enabled by their high data processing efficiency, lower power consumption, and simplified circuit design. This review summarizes the historical and recent advances in anti‐ambipolar heterojunctions, highlighting their significance in materials, devices, circuits, and broad scale research.