China's '2D' Chip Could Soon be Used to Make Silicon-Free Chips
upstart writes:
China's '2D' chip could soon be used to make silicon-free chips:
Researchers in China say they have created a new silicon-free transistor that could significantly boost performance while reducing energy consumption. The team says this development represents a new direction for transistor research.
The scientists said that the new transistor could be integrated into chips that could one day perform up to 40% faster than the best existing silicon processors made by U.S. companies like Intel. This is according to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Despite that dramatic increase in power, the researchers claim that such chips would also draw 10% less power. The scientists outlined their findings in a recent study published Feb. 13 in the journal Nature.
Lead author of the study Hailin Peng, professor of chemistry at Peking University (PKU) in China, told SCMP: "If chip innovations based on existing materials are considered a 'short cut', then our development of 2D material-based transistors is akin to 'changing lanes'."
The efficiency and performance gains are possible thanks to the chip's unique architecture, the scientists said in the paper, specifically the new two-dimensional silicon-free transistor they created. This transistor is a gate-all-around field-effect transistor (GAAFET). Unlike previous leading transistor designs like the fin field-effect transistor (FinFET), a GAAFET transistor wraps sources with a gate on all four sides, instead of just three.
[...] This is because a fully wrapped source provides better electrostatic control (as there is less energy loss to static electricity discharges) and the potential for higher drive currents and faster switching times.
While the GAAFET architecture isn't itself new, the PKU team's use of bismuth oxyselenide as the semiconductor was, as well as the fact they used it to create an "atomically-thin" two-dimensional transistor.
Editor's note: This article was first published March 24, 2025.
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