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Nov 05, 2024

MIT creates nanoscale transistors for next-gen electronics

The novel 3D transistors have been designed using ultrathin semiconductor materials. Mrigakshi Dixit Representative image of a transistor. iStock MIT researchers have developed a new type of 3D

The novel 3D transistors have been designed using ultrathin semiconductor materials.

Mrigakshi Dixit

Representative image of a transistor.

iStock

MIT researchers have developed a new type of 3D transistor that could be more energy-efficient and powerful than current silicon-based transistors.

The novel 3D transistors have been designed using ultrathin semiconductor materials.

“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,” said Yanjie Shao, an MIT postdoc and lead author.

The transistors harness quantum mechanics to achieve high performance at low voltage within a nanoscale area.

Their minuscule size paves the way for a new era of ultra-dense, high-performance, and energy-efficient electronics.

Silicon transistors function as electronic switches. A simple voltage application triggers a dramatic state change in the transistor, from off to on. This on/off state represents binary digits, enabling computation.

The efficiency of a transistor is linked to its switching slope. A steeper slope directly correlates to lower energy consumption. This means that the transistor can be switched on and off quickly, requiring less time and, consequently, less energy.

However, a fundamental limitation known as Boltzmann tyranny imposes a minimum voltage requirement for transistor operation at room temperature.

This limit is generally found in silicon transistors.

To overcome it, these new transistors use ultrathin semiconductor materials and quantum mechanics to achieve high performance at low voltage.

MIT researchers turned to gallium antimonide and indium arsenide semiconductor materials.

Furthermore, they incorporated quantum tunneling principles into their device architecture. In this phenomenon, electrons can penetrate potential barriers.

“Now, you can turn the device on and off very easily,” Shao added.

However, tunneling transistors often suffer from low current output. This limitation hinders their performance in demanding applications that require high currents for efficient operation.

To address this, the engineers worked on the 3D geometry of the transistors. For this, they fabricated nanowire heterostructures with a diameter of only 6 nanometers.

This led to the creation of the “smallest 3D transistors reported to date.”

Thanks to quantum confinement, this technique helped them achieve sharp switching slopes and high current. Quantum confinement occurs when electrons are restricted to tiny spaces.

This confinement unlocks the potential for enhanced tunneling, revolutionizing device performance.

“We 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,” Shao said.

During testing, the devices exhibited sharper switching slopes than conventional silicon transistors. This means they can switch states more rapidly and efficiently, opening the door to faster and more energy-efficient electronic devices.

According to the press release, the MIT devices demonstrated a 20-fold performance improvement compared to similar tunneling transistors.

“This is the first time we have been able to achieve such sharp switching steepness with this design,” Shao noted.

The researchers are working to improve the fabrication process to ensure consistent transistor performance across the entire chip.

To further enhance uniformity, they are investigating alternative 3D transistor designs, such as vertical fin-shaped structures.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Electronics.

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Mrigakshi Dixit Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations. Her work has been featured in well-known publications including Nature India, Supercluster, The Weather Channel and Astronomy magazine. If you have pitches in mind, please do not hesitate to email her.

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