In the post-Moore era, advanced transistor technology in terms of “materials, process and configuration” needs surgently to meet the requirements of power consumption and integration density for large-scale integrated circuit (IC). We herein present a succinct and critical survey of the emerging low-dimensional semiconducting materials for field-effect transistors (FETs), including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), black phosphorus (B-P), tellurene, and related one/twodimensional
van der Waals heterostructures. Recent research advances of novel FETs below 14 nm node on basis of these materials are also reviewed. In the end, the prospects for future research opportunities as well as accompanying challenges of low-dimensional semiconducting materials are summarized and highlighted.