Materials Science World Congress

Next-generation microchip development can draw much upon the discovery and integration of advanced materials that would allow it to perform superiorly, with increased efficiency, and with continuous miniaturization. Traditional silicon-based semiconductors, which had speed up devices, made them smaller, and allowed less power per application, are now put to the limits of physics and performance. Expecting this, researchers and engineers thus looked ahead for innovative materials that would take microchip technology even further.

Graphene is one of the new types of microchips: two-dimensional material consisting of only a single layer of carbon atoms and showing excellent electrical and thermal conduction and mechanical strength. Its ability to support high-speed movement of electrons without significant energy loss makes it an excellent candidate for the type of microchips requiring higher processing speeds at minimum power consumption. Its flexibility has opened ways to flexible electronics, wearable devices, and much more compact chip designs.

The second wave of materials that can make a difference in microchip development are two-dimensional semiconductors. Molybdenum disulfide, or MoS2, and transition metal dichalcogenides, or TMDs, may provide similar flexibility that silicon does but can grant better scalability and electronic properties at the same time. Their extremely thin atomically structured forms will again further miniaturization, which is an extremely vital trend for applications in mobile computing, quantum computing, and IoT, where component sizes have to be reduced but performance should not.

The bottom line is that nanomaterials are a driving factor for further miniaturization of microchips. Carbon nanotubes, nanowires, and other similar materials carry great electronic characteristics, allowing an even smaller and more efficient transistor, a building block of a microchip, to be designed. Through nanotechnology, they can drive much further Moore's Law-the government regulating time in doubling up the number of transistors in microchips.

Apart from better performance, next-generation materials will also have an important role to play in the quest for higher energy efficiency of microchips. As more and more devices are becoming connected through IoT and cloud computing, low power chips that dissipate minimal heat, but preserve as much energy as possible, would be invaluable in helping to mitigate adverse impacts of environmental damage caused by data centers and smart technology.

Therefore, advanced materials represent critical importance to unlock the future of semiconductor technology. Breakthroughs in graphene, 2D materials, nanotechnology, and other thin-film technologies promise new developments that could change the face of the microelectronics scene: faster, smaller, more energy-efficient devices.