Tokyo team makes atom-thin chip material with a 100-million on/off ratio
A team led by Vincent Tung grew boron carbon nitride in wafer-scale films and tested 224 transistors. It fills a long-missing p-type part for 2D chips.
Chips are made of tiny switches called transistors. Scientists made a material only one atom thick that works well as one kind of switch. It is a big step for future chips, but it needs to be made at lower heat first.
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Why it matters
Future chips need tiny, efficient transistors of both types. This gives the p-type kind in a one-atom-thin material, but it is still a lab result.
Watch: the next chips may be built from sheets one atom thick.
The details
- Published in Nature by a University of Tokyo-led team.
- Carbon is swapped into boron nitride to make mobile positive charge carriers.
- 224 transistors were tested; on/off current ratio is about 100 million to one.
- The material is stable in air.
- Growth needs about 1,000 C, too hot for finished chips. Contacts and scaling need work.
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