New Semiconductor Material Rewrites Chip Properties With Light
Semiconductors are usually stuck with the properties they are given during manufacturing. Engineers can control where and how electricity flows through a chip, but once it rolls off the production line, those characteristics are largely set in stone. That has worked very well for decades, but now researchers are looking for new ways to improve electronics as shrinking transistors becomes increasingly difficult.
Researchers at Princeton University have developed a very different kind of semiconductor that can be modified after it has been manufactured. The material is only a few molecules thick, and its electrical and optical properties can be programmed with light. Those changes are reversible, so they can be erased and replaced with something new to suit different applications.
A prototype built with the technology (📷: Sameer Khan)
The semiconductor is made from a single layer of tungsten disulfide (WS2) or tungsten diselenide (WSe2). These materials are then...
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