Nanosheet transistors: materials, devices, systems and applications

The continuous evolution of field-effect transistor (FET) technologies is essential to address the increasing demand for energy-efficient and high-performance electronics. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced low-power FETs, focusing on semiconductor materials, architectures, fabrication techniques and applications. Emerging materials such as 2D semiconductors, IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide), TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenides) and III–V compounds play a pivotal role in enabling innovative FET topologies like FinFETs, stacked nanosheet FETs (NSFETs), vertical NSFETs, TreeFETs and complementary FETs. These materials, with superior properties such as high-mobility channels, improved scalability and energy efficiency, are critical in overcoming the challenges posed by conventional CMOS technology node scaling. In particular, NSFETs are anticipated to substitute the state-of-the-art nanowire FET and FinFET devices due to their ability to provide better electrostatic control and tunable channel widths. This transition is expected to reshape the semiconductor technology in the years ahead. A critical aspect of integrating these architectures lies in the advanced fabrication steps such as epitaxial growth techniques, spacer-based lithography and high-k metal gate (HKMG) integration that enables precise control over device dimensions and enhancing performance. These innovations facilitate the integration of advanced architectures for diverse applications including logic circuits, memory devices including SRAM, MRAM, sensing technologies and RF applications. By incorporating these material innovations with architectural advancements, this study highlights their combined potential to address current progress and challenges, driving the future of low-power FETs and shaping sustainable high-performing modern electronics.

Graphical Abstract