Researchers from Peking University say their self-engineered 2D transistor can operate 40 percent faster than those of US and European rivals made with silicon, while consuming 10 percent less energy, the South China Morning Post reports. Transistors are tiny, electronic components that act as a switch or amplifier for electrical signals in semiconductor chips.
The team’s leader, physical chemistry professor Peng Hailin, has described the innovation as a “short cut” that could allow China to bypass traditional silicon-based chip-making entirely.
“Our development of 2D material-based transistors is akin to changing lanes,” he said, implying a new direction in China’s trajectory towards overtaking the US in advanced technology within the next decade.
[See more: China now leads the world in semiconductor research, a new report says]
Peng explained that as US sanctions had restricted China’s access to most advanced silicon-based transistors, the country’s researchers had been forced to “find solutions from fresh perspectives.”
The Peking University team engineered its own bismuth-based materials – specifically Bi2O2Se and Bi2SeO5 – to fabricate their transistor, which they described as “the fastest, most efficient transistor ever.”
China has been pushing for self-reliance in the semiconductor industry in recent years, a process that’s been accelerated by waves of export control measures imposed by the US over what it claims are national security concerns – with Washington openly waging a tech war on Beijing.
