An indigenously developed advance in integrated circuit technology was unveiled by Hsinchu City-based National Chiao Tung University and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. March 17 in northern Taiwan.
With support from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Taiwan Consortium of Emergent Crystalline Materials program, the joint research team discovered how to synthesize single-atom-thick sheets of boron nitride. Used as an insulating layer in 2D semiconductors, the sheets are a critical step in industrywide efforts to scale down the size of transistors and increase the efficiency of ICs.
The discovery was published in the March issue of Nature, one of the world’s preeminent academic journals. According to the MOST, the collaboration is a milestone in the country’s technological and scientific advancement.
Established in 2012, the consortium consists of Taiwan’s top teams specializing in materials science. It commenced a broad-based mission to develop new crystalline materials in 2014.
Statistics from Hsinchu County-based Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association show the country’s semiconductor production value totaled US$86.3 billion in 2019, up 1.7 percent year on year. This is compared with US$412.1 billion globally, down 12.1 percent from 2018. (YCH-E)
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