The semiconductor industry today is working to respond to a threefold mandate: increasing computing power, decreasing chip sizes, and managing power in densely packed circuits.
To meet these demands, the industry must look beyond silicon to produce devices appropriate for the growing role of computing.
While unlikely to abandon the workhorse material anytime in the near or distant future, the technology sector will require creative enhancements in chip materials and architectures to produce devices appropriate for the growing role of computing.
One of the biggest shortcomings of silicon is that it can only be made so thin because its material properties are fundamentally limited to three dimensions [3D]. For this reason, two-dimensional [2D] semiconductors — so thin as to have almost no height — have become an object of interest to scientists, engineers, and microelectronics manufacturers.
Thinner chip components would provide greater control and precision over the flow of electricity in a device while lowering the amount of energy required to power it. A 2D semiconductor would also contribute to keeping the surface area of a chip to a minimum, lying in a thin film atop a supporting silicon device.
But until recently, attempts to create such a material have been unsuccessful.