transistors tagged posts

The authors observed in real-time the transformation of a HfO2 nanorod from its room temperature to tetragonal phase, at 1000° less than its bulk temperature. Nanorod surfaces and twin boundary defects (pictured here) serve to kinetically trap this phase.

Materials research creates potential for improved computer chips and transistors. The inorganic compound hafnium dioxide commonly used in optical coatings has several polymorphs, including a tetragonal form with highly attractive properties for computer chips and other optical elements. However, because this form is stable only at temperatures above 3100F – scientists have had to make do with its more limited monoclinic polymorph. Until now...

This diagram illustrates the effect of helium ions on the mechanical and electrical properties of the layered ferroelectric: a.) Disappearance domains in the exposed area; as the mound forms yellow regions (ferroelectricity) gradually disappear; b.) Mechanical properties of the material; warmer colors indicate hard areas, cool colors indicate soft areas; c.) Conductivity enhancement; warmer colors show insulating areas, cooler colors show more conductive areas. Credit: ORNL

2D electronic devices could inch closer to their ultimate promise of low power, high efficiency and mechanical flexibility with a processing technique developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory...

University of Utah materials science and engineering associate professor Ashutosh Tiwari holds up a substrate layered with a newly discovered 2-D material made of tin and oxygen. Tiwari and his team have discovered this new material, tin monoxide, which allows electrical charges to move through it much faster than common 3-D material such as silicon. This breakthrough in semiconductor material could lead to much faster computers and mobile devices such as smartphones that also run on less power and with less heat. Credit: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

The semiconductor, made of tin monoxide (SnO), is a layer of 2D material only 1 atom thick, allowing electrical charges to move through it much faster than conventional 3D materials such as silicon...

This image shows inside the laboratories at ANFF, where the researchers designed and built the world’s first two-qubit logic gate. Credit: UNSW

Quantum logic gate in silicon built for the for the first time, making calculations between 2 qubits of information possible – and thereby clearing the final hurdle to making silicon quantum computers a reality. “What we have is a game changer,” said Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor and Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW. “Because we use essentially the same device technology as existing computer chips, we believe it will be much easier to manufacture a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs, which rely on more exotic technologies.”

In classical computers, data is rendered as binary bits, which ...