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Juan Carlos López
Senior WriterAn engineer by training. A science and tech journalist by passion, vocation, and conviction. I've been writing professionally for over two decades, and I suspect I still have a long way to go. At Xataka, I write about many topics, but I mainly enjoy covering nuclear fusion, quantum physics, quantum computers, microprocessors, and TVs.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
Transistors are the foundation of integrated circuits. The first transistors, as we know them today, were invented in 1947 by John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain, three physicists at Bell Labs. Simply put, a transistor is a semiconductor electronic device that responds to an input signal by producing a specific output. For example, an electronic amplifier uses an external power supply to increase the power, voltage, or current of the signal applied to its input.
Several types of transistors exist, including bipolar, point-contact, field-effect, junction, single-electron, phototransistors, and organic electrochemical transistors. However, for the purpose of this article, you only need to understand two key points about these devices. First, they’re active components within integrated circuits. Second, field-effect transistors have enabled the high level of integration achieved by current lithographic techniques.
Bismuth Transistors Hold the Promise of Revolutionizing Chip Technology
MIT scientists discussed the potential of boron nitride in a paper published in Science in 2021. At that time, their proposal was purely theoretical. However, three years later, they successfully implemented their ideas. Researchers developed a new type of transistor using an ultra-thin ferroelectric material made from boron nitride, a highly durable compound consisting of equal parts boron and nitrogen.
The new Chinese transistor is 40% faster and 10% more efficient than the most advanced FinFET transistors from Intel and TSMC.
Notably, Chinese researchers from Peking University recently created a new type of transistor that distances itself from the MIT approach. According to a study published in Nature Materials, they claim to have developed a gate-all-around field-effect transistor (GAAFET). They say it’s 40% faster and 10% more energy-efficient than the most advanced FinFET transistors currently produced by Intel and TSMC. Not bad.
GAAFET technology is already a key aspect of semiconductors. In fact, companies such as TSMC, Intel, and Samsung have been focusing on it for several years. However, the new Chinese transistors offer a distinct feature that differentiates them from FinFET transistors: They utilize bismuth instead of silicon. According to Chinese researchers, using bismuth allows their devices to overcome the limitations imposed by silicon, especially when creating integrated circuits surpassing 3 nm in size.
“It is the fastest and most efficient transistor ever... If chip innovations based on existing materials are considered as a ‘short cut,’ then our development of 2D material-based transistors is akin to ‘changing lanes,’” author Pen Hailin said in a press release. He emphasized the significance of the team’s findings by adding, “This work demonstrates that 2D GAAFETs do exhibit comparable performance and energy efficiency to commercial silicon-based transistors, making them a promising candidate for the next technology node.”
I can only hope these transistors leap from the lab to widespread industrial use.
Image | Axel Richter
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