Better 2D semiconductors signposted by materials review

Technology News | March 14, 2023

By Peter Clarke

semiconductor Materials & processes

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have conducted a computer study of a materials database looking for 2D semiconductors with characteristics that correlate with high mobility.

The team has discovered 14 materials that should allow electrons to move quickly, opening up the prospect of improved performance and power efficiency in electronics.

Two-dimensional materials such as graphene and molybdenum disuphide are widely seen as providing possible transistor materials in future semiconductors. However, the vast majority of 2D semiconductors, including MoS2, have inferior mobility to bulk silicon.

The University of Texas research term followed up their database review with quantum-mechanical calculations of the carrier mobilities in the materials. The materials showing superior mobilities included boron-antimonide, boron-arsenide, germanium hydride, tin-hydride, zirconium iodide, aluminum-bismuth and gallium-germanium telluride.

“The fact that we only found 14 materials with potentially high carrier mobility out of thousands does not contradict the conventional wisdom,” said Yuanyue Liu, an assistant professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute, who leads the project.

Liu said the next step is to partner with experimental researchers and work on fabricating materials to test their theoretical findings.

Other team members on the project include Chenmu Zhang, Ruoyu Wang and Himani Mishra, all from the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Texas Materials Institute.

The research was recently published in Physical Review Letters.