As transistors get smaller, electrodes must keep shrinking too

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01 July 2026 As transistors get smaller, electrodes must keep shrinking too Direct imaging shows that the contacts through which current flows into atomically thin transistors can be scaled down to just a few nanometres in length. By Bent Weber 0 Bent Weber Bent Weber is in the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371. View author publications PubMed Google Scholar

The use of ultrathin 2D semiconductor materials promises to shrink transistors down to the nanometre scale. However, to achieve a substantial increase in the number of these transistors that can fit on a chip, it is necessary to scale down the metallic contacts that link them to external circuitry. So far, it has not been clear how small these contacts can be made before device performance is compromised. Writing in Nature, Yang et al.1 report a direct measurement of the minimum contact size needed to generate current efficiently in an atomically thin (2D) semiconductor. Their result, 2–3 nanometres, is a promising sign that the contacts for 2D transistors can be scaled down along with the devices themselves.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01807-y

References Yang, Z.-L. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10707-0 (2026). Ghosh, S. et al. Nature 642, 327–335 (2025). Ao, M. et al. Nature 640, 654–661 (2025). Smithe, K. K. H., English, C. D., Suryavanshi, S. V. & Pop, E. 2D Mater. 4, 011009 (2016). Shen, P.-C. et al. Nature 593, 211–217 (2021). Li, W. et al. Nature 613, 274–279 (2023). Download references

Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests.

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