Controlled, tunable, and reversible negative-differential resistance (NDR) is observed in lithographically defined, atomically thin semiconducting graphene nanoribbon (GNR)-gated Esaki diode transistors at room temperature. Sub-10 nm-wide GNRs patterned by electron-beam lithography exhibit semiconducting energy bandgaps of ~0.2 eV extracted by electrical conductance spectroscopy measurements, indicating an atomically thin realization of the electronic properties of conventional 3D narrow-bandgap semiconductors such as InSb. A p–n junction is then formed in the GNR channel by electrostatic doping using graphene side gates, boosted by ions in a solid polymer electrolyte. Transistor characteristics of this gated GNR p–n junction exhibit reproducible and reversible NDR due to interband tunneling of carriers. All essential experimentally observed features are explained by an analytical model and are corroborated by a numerical atomistic simulation. The observation of tunable NDR in GNRs is conclusive proof of the existence of a lithographically defined bandgap and the thinnest possible realization of an Esaki diode. It paves the way for the thinnest scalable manifestation of low-power tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs).

在室温下，在光刻定义的原子薄半导体石墨烯纳米带（GNR）门控的Esaki二极管晶体管中观察到受控，可调和可逆的负微分电阻（NDR）。通过电子束光刻构图的亚10纳米宽的GNR表现出约0.2 eV的半导体能带隙，该能带隙是通过电导光谱测量获得的，表明原子级薄实现了常规3D窄带隙半导体（如InSb）的电子性能。然后，通过使用石墨烯侧栅极的静电掺杂，在GNR通道中形成一个p – n结，并通过固体聚合物电解质中的离子来增强。该门控GNR p – n的晶体管特性由于载波的带间隧穿，该结表现出可再现和可逆的NDR。所有基本的实验观察到的特征都可以通过分析模型进行解释，并可以通过数值原子模拟得到证实。对GNR中可调NDR的观察是光刻定义的带隙的存在以及Esaki二极管的最薄实现的结论性证据。它为低功率隧穿场效应晶体管（TFET）的最薄的可扩展表现方式铺平了道路。