Nanoscale 3D transistors made from ultrathin semiconductor materials can operate more efficiently than silicon-based devices, leveraging quantum mechanical properties to potentially enable ultra-low-power AI applications.
Silicon transistors, which are used to amplify and switch signals, are a critical component in most electronic devices, from smartphones to automobiles. But silicon semiconductor technology is held back by a fundamental physical limit that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage.
"This is a technology with the potential to replace silicon, so you could use it with all the functions that silicon currently has, but with much better energy efficiency," says Yanjie Shao, an MIT postdoc and lead author of a paper on the new transistors. A transistor's switching slope reflects the sharpness of the"off" to"on" transition. The steeper the slope, the less voltage is needed to turn on the transistor and the greater its energy efficiency.
Such precise engineering enabled them to achieve a sharp switching slope and high current simultaneously. This is possible because of a phenomenon called quantum confinement.
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