The newly developed semiconductor material could eventually lead to electronic devices that are 100 percent faster.
Image: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering
Thanks to a new development in semiconducting materials, our electronics may soon be faster all while consuming a lot less power.
The semiconductor is comprised of tin and oxygen and is only one atom thick, which allows electrical charges to move very quickly – much faster than comparable materials, such as silicon. This material also differs from conventional 3D materials, as it is 2D. The benefit of this material being 2D lies in the reduction of layers and thickness, thus allowing electronics to move faster.
This material has the ability to be applied to transistors, which are central to the majority of electronic devices.
This from the University of Utah:
While researchers in this field have recently discovered new types of 2D material such as graphene, molybdenun disulfide and borophene, they have been materials that only allow the movement of N-type, or negative, electrons. In order to create an electronic device, however, you need semiconductor material that allows the movement of both negative electrons and positive charges known as “holes.” The tin monoxide material discovered by Tiwari and his team is the first stable P-type 2D semiconductor material ever in existence.
“Now we have everything—we have P-type 2D semiconductors and N-type 2D semiconductors,” said Ashutosh Tiwari, lead author of the study. “Now things will move forward much more quickly.”
Tiwari believes that transistors made with his semiconducting device could lead to computers and smartphones that are 100 times faster than regular devise.
“The field is very hot right now, and people are very interested in it,” Tiwari said. “So in two or three years we should see at least some prototype device.”
