In a major step forward for future electronics, scientists in China have created a new type of high-performance semiconductor that could replace traditional silicon in advanced technologies.
The breakthrough, led by Professor Liu Kaihui from Peking University and colleagues from Renmin University, involves the successful production of large, wafer-scale films of indium selenide (InSe), a two-dimensional (2D) material known for its exceptional electrical properties.
The research, published in the journal Science, marks a milestone in efforts to find faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient materials to power next-generation devices.
InSe, often called a “golden semiconductor,” has long attracted interest because of its excellent combination of traits: a suitable energy bandgap, low electrical resistance, and high speed for moving electrons.
But until now, scientists have struggled to make InSe in large enough sizes for real-world use.
Traditional techniques could only produce tiny flakes of InSe, far too small for building large-scale electronic circuits.
This is a serious roadblock, especially as silicon—the material used in nearly all computer chips—approaches its physical performance limits.
To stay ahead of this bottleneck, the semiconductor industry is racing to find alternative materials that can keep up with the growing demands of technologies like artificial intelligence, smart devices, and autonomous vehicles.
To solve the scaling problem, Liu’s team developed a brand-new approach called “solid–liquid–solid” conversion. The method starts with a thin, disordered layer of InSe deposited on a sapphire wafer.
Then, the wafer is sealed with pure indium metal and heated to around 550°C inside a quartz enclosure.
At this high temperature, the indium melts and reacts with the film in a controlled way, forming a highly uniform and pure crystalline layer of InSe.
The result is a 2-inch wafer with unmatched quality—crystal clear, evenly thick, and chemically pure—making it ideal for creating advanced transistors. Using this new material, the researchers built arrays of transistors (the basic building blocks of modern electronics) and tested their performance.
The results were outstanding. The devices showed extremely high electron mobility and low power consumption. They also performed better than future silicon devices predicted in the 2037 roadmap of the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS), which outlines expected progress in chip technology.
These new InSe transistors worked well even at gate lengths below 10 nanometers, meaning they could potentially enable even smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computer chips. The study was praised by reviewers as a significant breakthrough in crystal growth and semiconductor research.
This innovation could help shape the future of electronics, leading to smarter phones, faster AI systems, and more efficient technologies across many industries. With InSe now scalable and proven, the race toward post-silicon electronics just took a giant leap forward.
