An international research team has developed a new process that will increase the performance of integrated circuits and dramatically transform the way semiconductors are produced.
Chueh Yu-lun, team member and assistant professor of Material Sciences and Engineering at Hsinchu-based National Tsing Hua University, made the announcement Nov. 17 at a news conference organized by the Cabinet-level National Science Council.
According to Chueh, this is the first time photovoltaic and silicon electron devices have been combined to produce high-performance transistors.
“The team used a new transfer technique to successfully build ultrathin layers of single-crystal indium arsenide on silicon substrates,” he said. “This resulted in the creation of a nanoscale transistor.”
Chueh said that given light travels 100 times faster than electrons and creates no heat in the process, the new technology increases transmission speed, data storage capacity and reliability of consumer electronic devices.
The team’s results were published in the Nov. 11 issue of Nature, a U.S.-based science journal. Researchers from the University of California, University of New Mexico and South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology also participated in the project. (JSM)
Write to Meg Chang at meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw