Reconfigurable and multifunctional circuits using the Stark effect in black phosphorus

Nature Physics (2026) Cite this article The bandgap of two-dimensional black phosphorus can be modulated under a vertical electric field due to the Stark effect. However, its circuit applications remain elusive. Here we utilize the Stark effect in black phosphorus for digital and analogue circuit applications. By modulating the bandgap, we can control the current on/off ratio and intrinsic carrier concentration. This enables the effective tuning of amplifier gain and bandwidth, as well as the realization of both binary and ternary logic gates. Using this effect, we build a black phosphorus amplifier with a current-source load, showing a steep gain-tuning slope and more than an order-of-magnitude bandwidth modulation. Furthermore, we demonstrated a stacked black phosphorus transistor array for binary convolutional neural network with better performance compared with silicon- and memristor-based circuits, highlighting its potential for next-generation electronic systems.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutAll data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.All codes used in this study are included in the article and are available from the corresponding authors upon request.Kim, J. et al. 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In addition, this work was supported by the Shanxi Province Major Science and Technology Special Projects Plan (grant number 202501150102014Z to H.G.) and Sanjin Talent Program of Shanxi Province.These authors contributed equally: He Tian, Zhan Hou, Fan Wu, Jing-Wen Jiang, Dai-Xuan Wu.School of Integrated Circuits, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaHe Tian (田禾), Zhan Hou (侯展), Fan Wu (吴凡), Dai-Xuan Wu (吴岱璇), Yang Shen (沈阳), Zi-Ming Wang (王子明) & Tian-Ling Ren (任天令)Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology (BNRist), Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaHe Tian (田禾), Zhan Hou (侯展), Fan Wu (吴凡), Dai-Xuan Wu (吴岱璇), Yang Shen (沈阳), Zi-Ming Wang (王子明) & Tian-Ling Ren (任天令)State Key Lab of Integrated Chipsand Systems, College of Integrated Circuits and Micro-Nano Electronics,School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai, ChinaJing-Wen Jiang (姜婧雯), Ting-Yi Xu (许婷贻) & Xiao-Yong Xue (薛晓勇)State Key Laboratory of Extreme Environment Optoelectronic Dynamic Testing Technology and Instrument, North University of China, Taiyuan, ChinaHao Guo (郭浩)Search author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarH.T. proposed the idea and the project. H.T., Z.H., Z.-M.W., F.W. and H.G. designed the experiment. Z.H., Z.-M.W. and F.W. fabricated the device and performed the device characterization. D.-X.W. and Y.S. performed the simulation. J.-W.J., T.-Y.X. and X.-Y.X. analysed the BP digital circuit and demonstration of BCNN. T.-L.R. and H.T. supervised the project. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.Correspondence to He Tian (田禾), Zi-Ming Wang (王子明), Hao Guo (郭浩) or Tian-Ling Ren (任天令).The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Physics thanks Mario Lanza and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.a, Schematic of the dual-gate BP transistor based on local back-gate structure. b, The cross-sectional HRTEM image showing the BP layer and Al2O3 dielectric layer. c, EDS line scan showing the atomic fractions of O, Al and P along the row in b. d-f, The EDS mapping showing the spatial distribution of Al(d), P(e) and O(f) in the cross section of the BP transistor.Source dataa, Frequency response of amplifier A. b-c, Output waveform of amplifier A at DAV =1.0 and 0.9 V/nm. Input signal frequency is 100 and 500 Hz for (b) and (c), respectively. d, Frequency response of amplifier C (based on device 6). e-f, Output waveform of amplifier C at DAV = 0.28, 0.58 and 0.81 V/nm. Input signal frequency is 100 and 500 Hz for (e) and (f), respectively.Source dataSupplementary Figs. 1–15 and Sections 1–7.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Statistical source data.Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsTian, H., Hou, Z., Wu, F. et al. Reconfigurable and multifunctional circuits using the Stark effect in black phosphorus. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03293-5Download citationReceived: 05 February 2025Accepted: 14 April 2026Published: 25 May 2026Version of record: 25 May 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03293-5Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative