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Materials Breakthroughs Paves Path to 2D Transistors
Tom's Hardware ^ | 19 January 2023 | Mark Tyson

Posted on 01/19/2023 12:59:52 PM PST by ShadowAce

Researchers have solved three fiendishly difficult technical challenges that were effectively blocking the realization of the potential shown by semiconducting 2D materials, a key ingredient to creating new atom-thick transistors that can reset Moore's Law. Thanks to the works of a multi-institutional team of researchers the production of high-quality 2D materials at a commercial scale now appears to be solved. 

The advance of semiconductor development is threatened by natural restrictions imposed by the way transistors are fabricated and the materials that are used. This barrier to Moore’s Law has long been looming on the horizon, and forward-thinking scientists have been researching and developing alternative routes to deliver the continuous improvement that is sought.

One of the most likely practical ways that the semiconductor industry can put a new spring in its step is to replace silicon with so-called 2D materials to creat 2D transistors. Scientists looking closely at 2D materials have highlighted several attractive qualities which should help deliver significant improvements to performance, efficiency, and scalability. Intel’s Components Research (CR) Group, for example recently presented nine research papers, with some of them touting the use of new 2D materials as a route to developing processors with over a trillion transistors, by 2030.

Now three critical challenges to the commercialization of 2D materials have been solved, claim the international group of scientists, making the manufacture of 2D materials in single-crystalline form on silicon wafers possible. These challenges were specifically described as follows:

You can read the full paper for further details about each of these challenges and how they have been solved by the processes invented by the multi-institutional team. The work is detailed in a paper titled ‘Non-epitaxial single-crystal 2D material growth by geometric confinement’ and published by Nature magazine.

(Image credit: Nature)

Sang-Hoon Bae, one of the project leaders, and a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, certainly seems confident in the impact of the research. “We believe that our confined growth technique can bring all the great findings in physics of 2D materials to the level of commercialization by allowing the construction of single domain layer-by-layer heterojunctions at the wafer-scale,” explained Bae. “Our achievement will lay a strong foundation for 2D materials to fit into industrial settings.”

As with all research of this nature, it could be years before we see 2D materials used in practical applications. However, with companies like Intel and Samsung deeply involved in this project — and the fact that Intel already has 2D Gate All Around (GAA) transistors in its research pipeline — that future might come sooner than you think.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: hardware; transistors
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1 posted on 01/19/2023 12:59:52 PM PST by ShadowAce
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To: rdb3; JosephW; martin_fierro; Still Thinking; zeugma; Vinnie; ironman; Egon; raybbr; AFreeBird; ...

2 posted on 01/19/2023 1:00:55 PM PST by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: ShadowAce

Will this mean faster pr0n?................


3 posted on 01/19/2023 1:01:23 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
heh

It'll mean smaller/faster/more dense chips in the future....

4 posted on 01/19/2023 1:04:46 PM PST by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: ShadowAce

“atom-thick transistors”

Still not technically 2D. And if scientists aren’t going to be technically correct, then who will???


5 posted on 01/19/2023 1:06:42 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: ShadowAce

Layer by layer. Wouldn’t that be 3D?


6 posted on 01/19/2023 1:11:24 PM PST by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: ShadowAce

While it may mean more powerful computers for scientists and engineers, The average person doesn’t need any faster computer to flip thru FakeBook and YouTube videos or writing emails to friends and relatives.

Of course energy consumption will be a problem when all the cars and trucks become an anchor on the power grid.................


7 posted on 01/19/2023 1:12:04 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: ShadowAce

How much current and voltage can be tolerated? Logic level stuff only probably but how will all the heat be conducted away?


8 posted on 01/19/2023 1:12:55 PM PST by reviled downesdad (Some of the lost will never believe the Truth.Rinos)
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To: ShadowAce

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
—OGINJ


9 posted on 01/19/2023 1:35:00 PM PST by one guy in new jersey
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To: Red Badger

Power consumption by devices drops when advances like this are made and proven to be practical/scalable where the rubber meets the road (i.e., within the fabrication plant).


10 posted on 01/19/2023 1:39:18 PM PST by one guy in new jersey
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To: ShadowAce
Uh, no such thing is possible. 2D is a mathematical abstraction--an x axis, a y axis. Anything in the real world has to be 3D, and have a Z axis. It can be very very thin, but no way it can be 2D in reality.

11 posted on 01/19/2023 2:15:00 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: ShadowAce

“…developing processors with over a trillion transistors, by 2030.…”

Heat the house with that baby.


12 posted on 01/19/2023 2:22:56 PM PST by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: Red Badger
Will this mean faster pr0n?...........

I certinally hope so!

13 posted on 01/19/2023 2:32:20 PM PST by dearolddad
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To: ShadowAce

“heh
It’ll mean smaller/faster/more dense chips in the future....”

=faster pr0n.


14 posted on 01/19/2023 2:40:07 PM PST by The Antiyuppie (When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day)
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To: ShadowAce

It means stronger AI, more advanced weapons of mass destruction, More memory to store the lives of every individual on earth, and much easier control of them.


15 posted on 01/19/2023 2:51:33 PM PST by Revel
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To: Red Badger
Of course energy consumption will be a problem when all the cars and trucks become an anchor on the power grid................

Not really they are going to solve that problem by requiring your car be attached so that it can power the grid in emergencies. They announced that plan this week, they did not however recommend a way for the person to get to work the next day.

The big new plan is the 15 minute cities, you know like we had in 1700.

16 posted on 01/19/2023 3:01:32 PM PST by itsahoot (Many Republicans are secretly Democrats, no Democrats are secretly Republicans. Dan Bongino.)
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To: reviled downesdad
How much current and voltage can be tolerated?

Apple's new MN chip claims 13.9 trillion transistors already.

17 posted on 01/19/2023 3:03:09 PM PST by itsahoot (Many Republicans are secretly Democrats, no Democrats are secretly Republicans. Dan Bongino.)
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To: Revel
It means stronger AI, more advanced weapons of mass destruction,

Well we wouldn't let our Creator rule over us so He is letting us build our own ruler.

18 posted on 01/19/2023 3:06:36 PM PST by itsahoot (Many Republicans are secretly Democrats, no Democrats are secretly Republicans. Dan Bongino.)
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To: ShadowAce

Nice, more 2D materials like graphene. A good background is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_metal_dichalcogenide_monolayers


19 posted on 01/19/2023 3:16:21 PM PST by AdmSmith (GCTGATATGTCTATGATTACTCAT)
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To: ShadowAce

Anyone else here object to the “2D” designation?

I don’t care if it’s only 1 micron thick, that’s STILL 3D.

It might be less! But there’s still a quantifiable thickness to it, and as such, 3D.


20 posted on 01/19/2023 4:14:07 PM PST by FrankRizzo890
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