Image: Representative image of a transistor
MIT researchers have developed a new type of 3D transistor that could be more energy-efficient and powerful than current silicon-based transistors.
“This is a technology with the potential to replace silicon, so you could use it with all the functions that silicon currently has, but with much better energy efficiency,” said Yanjie Shao, an MIT postdoc and lead author.
The efficiency of a transistor is linked to its switching slope. A steeper slope directly correlates to lower energy consumption. This means that the transistor can be switched on and off quickly, requiring less time and, consequently, less energy.
However, a fundamental limitation known as Boltzmann tyranny imposes a minimum voltage requirement for transistor operation at room temperature. This limit is generally found in silicon transistors.
To overcome it, these new transistors use ultrathin semiconductor materials and quantum mechanics to achieve high performance at low voltage. MIT researchers turned to gallium antimonide and indium arsenide semiconductor materials. Furthermore, they incorporated quantum tunneling principles into their device architecture. In this phenomenon, electrons can penetrate potential barriers.
The MIT devices demonstrated a 20-fold performance improvement compared to similar tunneling transistors. “This is the first time we have been able to achieve such sharp switching steepness with this design,” Shao noted.
Source: MIT News