Caption: This is a digital model showing how molybdenite can be integrated into a transistor.
Credit: Credit: EPFL
Usage Restrictions: With Mention
Posted on 01/30/2011 11:18:33 AM PST by decimon
Smaller and more energy-efficient electronic chips could be made using molybdenite, a material developed in Switzerland
Smaller and more energy-efficient electronic chips could be made using molybdenite. In an article appearing online January 30 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, EPFL's Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) publishes a study showing that this material has distinct advantages over traditional silicon or graphene for use in electronics applications.
A discovery made at EPFL could play an important role in electronics, allowing us to make transistors that are smaller and more energy efficient. Research carried out in the Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has revealed that molybdenite, or MoS2, is a very effective semiconductor. This mineral, which is abundant in nature, is often used as an element in steel alloys or as an additive in lubricants. But it had not yet been extensively studied for use in electronics.
100,000 times less energy
"It's a two-dimensional material, very thin and easy to use in nanotechnology. It has real potential in the fabrication of very small transistors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells," says EPFL Professor Andras Kis, whose LANES colleagues M. Radisavljevic, Prof. Radenovic et M. Brivio worked with him on the study. He compares its advantages with two other materials: silicon, currently the primary component used in electronic and computer chips, and graphene, whose discovery in 2004 earned University of Manchester physicists André Geim and Konstantin Novoselov the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.
One of molybdenite's advantages is that it is less voluminous than silicon, which is a three-dimensional material. "In a 0.65-nanometer-thick sheet of MoS2, the electrons can move around as easily as in a 2-nanometer-thick sheet of silicon," explains Kis. "But it's not currently possible to fabricate a sheet of silicon as thin as a monolayer sheet of MoS2." Another advantage of molybdenite is that it can be used to make transistors that consume 100,000 times less energy in standby state than traditional silicon transistors. A semi-conductor with a "gap" must be used to turn a transistor on and off, and molybdenite's 1.8 electron-volt gap is ideal for this purpose.
Better than graphene
In solid-state physics, band theory is a way of representing the energy of electrons in a given material. In semi-conductors, electron-free spaces exist between these bands, the so-called "band gaps." If the gap is not too small or too large, certain electrons can hop across the gap. It thus offers a greater level of control over the electrical behavior of the material, which can be turned on and off easily.
The existence of this gap in molybdenite also gives it an advantage over graphene. Considered today by many scientists as the electronics material of the future, the "semi-metal" graphene doesn't have a gap, and it is very difficult to artificially reproduce one in the material.
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For more information:
Nature Nanotechnology: http://www.nature.com/nnano/index.html
Direct link to the article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.279
Contact: Professor Andras Kis, Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES), andras.kis@epfl.ch, tel: +41 21 693 39 25
Other links:
Groups which were involved in or supported this research:
LANES (http://lanes.epfl.ch)
LBEN (http://lben.epfl.ch)
European Research Council (http://erc.europa.eu/)
Credit: Credit: EPFL
Usage Restrictions: With Mention
More Moore ping.
bookmark
Moore’s Law, states that the number of transistors on a chip will double about every two years.
Every-time we think we reached our limit, something new appears on the horizon.
There is a shortage of Molybdenum, as referenced in this article from 2009. My friend’s spouse works for a pharmaceutical company and struggles to find the molybdenum required for medications mixed that are used for heart procedures.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20090805/World-shortage-of-molybdenum-may-hinder-nuclear-medicine-services.aspx
A whole mountain of molybdenite has been found in Alaska.. also gold, silver and copper..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_Mine
the 1.8 volt band-gap the article cites would potentially be a fairly big deal. Silicon is .6 - .7 volts. It “could” change a lot of things with regards to circuitry art. I tend to doubt the 1/10,000 current consumption target stated, but it could be 1/100th.
Alas, the habitat of the Alaskan red-bellied gopher is likely to be closed for all future mining activities. [/s]
That is because Molybdenum currently has a limited scope. Once the big Silicon Manufacturers start demanding an endless supply, someone will build the reactors to meet the demand. In fact, if this is truly going to the most effective means to produce high-powered, low wattage chips, investing in the company that will supply a niche material to meet the demand might be a wise investment.
That’s great but I do not dismiss the environmental concerns. If the cost of not leaving behind a wasteland is built into the cost of the minerals then so be it.
The bulk of the poor environmental track record of mining industry is from a time before current technologies and regulations. Enforce the strict rules, use the latest technology and billions can be dumped into our economy safely. Every environmental issue is hyperbole and based on what might happened. Same excuses for not drilling in the Gulf or harvesting the vast oil reserves we have in shale. With the middle east exploding we can not afford being resource dependent.
The last Alaskan red bellied gopher died with Ted Stevens in an airplane accident recently..
I think Molybdenite explains time travel.
Small FET
As long as the taxpayer doesn't get stuck with the bill for cleanup. As long as Todd Palin doesn't have to take a factory job for there being no fish.
A statement like this drives me nuts. First, no taxpayer gets stuck with one individual project or cleanup. Taxpayers get stuck with one large massive bill (this year 4.6 Trillion dollars).
If this project brings in 10 billion in extra revenue and the government has to spend 200 million to clean up an area using the slush fund, then the government is still 9.8 billion to the good. However, people scream we are using tax payer's money to clean it up because the government already spent the 10 billion funding sex education on our kindergartners.
Ok, that's when it's not doing anything. Is there any benefit when it is actually doing its job?
This has nothing to do with sex education and my point has nothing to do with your socialistic reasoning. My capitalist, all-American point is that you pay for what you do.
Ok, that's when it's not doing anything. Is there any benefit when it is actually doing its job?
The article doesn't say but there may not be any benefit when in an active state. It may be that the standby state is the predominant state but I don't know. I suspect that the circuits in my PC are mostly in standby cuz I'm a boring guy.
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