Scientists have developed a new way to manufacture ultra-thin semiconductors that could help power the next generation of computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices.
Researchers led by Professor Cong Su have found a technique that combines high material quality with large-scale production, solving a long-standing challenge in semiconductor manufacturing.
Their findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Semiconductors are essential materials used in transistors, the tiny switches that control the flow of electricity in computer chips.
For decades, the electronics industry has made devices more powerful by shrinking transistors.
However, as transistors become increasingly small, researchers are looking for new materials that can continue this trend.
One promising option is the monolayer semiconductor. These materials are only one atom thick, making them among the thinnest materials possible.
Because of their extremely small size and unique properties, they could help create faster, more energy-efficient electronic devices and advanced quantum technologies.
The challenge has been finding a practical way to manufacture these materials. One popular production method, called chemical vapor deposition (CVD), can be scaled up for industrial use. However, it often produces crystals with defects that reduce performance.
In traditional CVD processes, chemical ingredients known as precursors are dissolved in a basic solution. During manufacturing, these chemicals vaporize and form a thin crystal layer. However, unwanted chemical byproducts can interfere with the growing crystal, pulling atoms out of place and creating imperfections. As a result, the final material may contain defects and uneven areas.
Professor Su’s team discovered a surprisingly simple solution. Instead of using a basic solution, they changed the chemical environment to an acidic one before the growth process began.
This acid treatment helps anchor the chemical ingredients to the surface during crystal growth, preventing many of the problems that normally occur. The result is a much higher-quality monolayer semiconductor with far fewer defects.
According to the researchers, the crystal quality achieved with the new method is comparable to materials produced using the famous “Scotch tape method.”
In that technique, adhesive tape is used to peel extremely thin crystal layers from a larger material. While the Scotch tape method can produce exceptionally high-quality samples, it is mainly useful for laboratory research and cannot easily be scaled up for mass production.
The new approach offers the best of both worlds. It delivers crystal quality similar to the laboratory method while remaining compatible with large-scale manufacturing processes already used by the semiconductor industry.
The researchers believe this breakthrough could accelerate the development of faster processors, more efficient electronics, and future quantum devices. By overcoming the trade-off between quality and scalability, the work may help bring atom-thin semiconductor technology closer to real-world applications.
