Advances in computing power over the decades have come thanks in part to our ability to make smaller and smaller transistors, a building block of electronic devices, but we are nearing the limit of the silicon materials typically used. A new technique for creating 2D oxide materials may pave the way for future high-speed electronics, according to an international team of scientists.
Furkan Turker, graduate student in the Department of Materials Sciences, works on a silicon carbide chip in the laboratory. Credit: Penn State "One way we can make our transistors, our electronic devices, work faster is to shrink the distance electrons have to travel between point A and B," said Joshua Robinson, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State. "You can only go so far with 3D materials like silicon—once you shrink it down to a nanometer, its properties change. So there's been a massive push looking at new materials, one of which are 2D materials." The team, led by Furkan Turker, graduate student in the Department of Materials Sciences, used a technique called confinement hetroepitaxy, or CHet, to create 2D oxides, materials with special properties that can serve as an atomically thin insulating layer between layers of electrically conducting materials. "Now we can create essentially the world's thinnest oxides—just a few atoms thick," Turker said. "That allows you to bring conducting layers closer together than ever without letting them touch. This enables the formation of an ultrathin barrier between conducting layers, which is essential for the fabrication of next-generation electronic devices, such as diodes or transistors." In laboratory tests, the oxides showed good properties for use in 2D/3D stacked materials called heterostructures that can enable electrons to travel vertically through the structure instead of horizontally like conventional devices. This shortens the distance the electrons must travel to create a flow of electricity, important for building…