{"id":8471,"date":"2024-11-14T21:04:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T02:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/"},"modified":"2024-12-06T22:28:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T22:28:39","slug":"nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

This limit, known as \u201cBoltzmann tyranny,\u201d hinders the energy efficiency of computers and other electronics, especially with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies that demand faster computation.<\/p>\n

In an effort to overcome this fundamental limit of silicon, MIT researchers fabricated a different type of three-dimensional transistor using a unique set of ultrathin semiconductor materials. The research appears in Nature Electronics<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Their devices, featuring vertical nanowires only a few nanometers wide, can deliver performance comparable to state-of-the-art silicon transistors while operating efficiently at much lower voltages than conventional devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d says Yanjie Shao, an MIT postdoc and lead author of a paper on the new transistors.<\/p>\n

The transistors leverage quantum mechanical properties to simultaneously achieve low-voltage operation and high performance within an area of just a few square nanometers. Their extremely small size would enable more of these 3D transistors to be packed onto a computer chip, resulting in fast, powerful electronics that are also more energy-efficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith conventional physics, there is only so far you can go. The work of Yanjie shows that we can do better than that, but we have to use different physics. There are many challenges yet to be overcome for this approach to be commercial in the future, but conceptually, it really is a breakthrough,\u201d says senior author Jes\u00fas del Alamo, the Donner professor of engineering in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).<\/p>\n

In electronic devices, silicon transistors often operate as switches. Applying a voltage to the transistor causes electrons to move over an energy barrier from one side to the other, switching the transistor from \u201coff\u201d to \u201con.\u201d By switching, transistors represent binary digits to perform computation.<\/p>\n

A transistor’s switching slope reflects the sharpness of the \u201coff\u201d to \u201con\u201d transition. The steeper the slope, the less voltage is needed to turn on the transistor and the greater its energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

But because of how electrons move across an energy barrier, Boltzmann tyranny requires a certain minimum voltage to switch the transistor at room temperature.<\/p>\n

To overcome the physical limit of silicon, the MIT researchers used a different set of semiconductor materials\u2014gallium antimonide and indium arsenide\u2014and designed their devices to leverage a unique phenomenon in quantum mechanics called quantum tunneling.<\/p>\n

Quantum tunneling is the ability of electrons to penetrate barriers. The researchers fabricated tunneling transistors, which leverage this property to encourage electrons to push through the energy barrier rather than going over it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, you can turn the device on and off very easily,\u201d Shao says.<\/p>\n

But while tunneling transistors can enable sharp switching slopes, they typically operate with low current, which hampers the performance of an electronic device. Higher current is necessary to create powerful transistor switches for demanding applications.<\/p>\n

Using tools at MIT.nano, MIT’s state-of-the-art facility for nanoscale research, the engineers were able to carefully control the 3D geometry of their transistors, creating vertical nanowire heterostructures with a diameter of only 6 nanometers. They believe these are the smallest 3D transistors reported to date.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Quantum confinement occurs when an electron is confined to a space that is so small that it can’t move around. When this happens, the effective mass of the electron and the properties of the material change, enabling stronger tunneling of the electron through a barrier.<\/p>\n

Because the transistors are so small, the researchers can engineer a very strong quantum confinement effect while also fabricating an extremely thin barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of flexibility to design these material heterostructures so we can achieve a very thin tunneling barrier, which enables us to get very high current,\u201d Shao says.<\/p>\n

Precisely fabricating devices that were small enough to accomplish this was a major challenge.<\/p>\n

When the researchers tested their devices, the sharpness of the switching slope was below the fundamental limit that can be achieved with conventional silicon transistors. Their devices also performed about 20 times better than similar tunneling transistors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we have been able to achieve such sharp switching steepness with this design,\u201d Shao adds.<\/p>\n

The researchers are now striving to enhance their fabrication methods to make transistors more uniform across an entire chip. With such small devices, even a 1-nanometer variance can change the behavior of the electrons and affect device operation.<\/p>\n

They are also exploring vertical fin-shaped structures, in addition to vertical nanowire transistors, which could potentially improve the uniformity of devices on a chip.<\/p>\n

*************************************************************************<\/p>\n

For more information:<\/p>\n

Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.mit.edu\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order to overcome a fundamental limit of silicon semiconductor technology that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers fabricated a different type of three-dimensional transistor using a unique set of ultrathin semiconductor materials. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,434,501,444,510,441,437,486,435,436,464],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electrical-properties","category-electronics","category-electronics-and-microelectronics","category-industries-and-applications","category-materials-characterization","category-materials-properties-and-performance","category-materials-testing-and-evaluation","category-microstructures","category-news","category-news-articles","category-research-and-development"],"yoast_head":"\nNanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In order to overcome a fundamental limit of silicon semiconductor technology that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers fabricated a different type of three-dimensional transistor using a unique set of ultrathin semiconductor materials.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"157\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"electrical-properties\",\"Electronics\",\"Electronics and Microelectronics\",\"Industries and Applications\",\"materials characterization\",\"Materials Properties and Performance\",\"Materials Testing and Evaluation\",\"Microstructures\",\"news\",\"News Articles\",\"Research and Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":157},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\",\"name\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"description\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/layout_set_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/layout_set_logo.png\",\"width\":360,\"height\":95,\"caption\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","og_description":"In order to overcome a fundamental limit of silicon semiconductor technology that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers fabricated a different type of three-dimensional transistor using a unique set of ultrathin semiconductor materials.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/","og_site_name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","article_published_time":"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":157,"url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics","datePublished":"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/"},"wordCount":847,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg","articleSection":["electrical-properties","Electronics","Electronics and Microelectronics","Industries and Applications","materials characterization","Materials Properties and Performance","Materials Testing and Evaluation","Microstructures","news","News Articles","Research and Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/","name":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-15T02:04:07+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T22:28:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2024\/12\/EDFAS__112124__MIT__250.jpg","width":250,"height":157},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/nanoscale-transistors-could-enable-more-efficient-electronics-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/","name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","description":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization","name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/10\/layout_set_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/10\/layout_set_logo.png","width":360,"height":95,"caption":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/author\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}