Scientists Announce Breakthrough in Microprocessor Manufacturing

South Korean scientists from the Pohang University of Science and Technology have developed a method for growing metallic semiconductors, or transistors, that are smaller than one nanometer. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology (NatNano).

In conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes, they cannot be made smaller than a few nanometers due to lithography resolution limitations.

To solve this technical problem, the team used a so-called double mirror boundary of 2D molybdenum disulfide — a 0.4-nanometer-thick, one-dimensional metallic structure that forms between crystals of the material. The mirror boundary was created using a process called epitaxial bonding.

“The one-dimensional metallic phase obtained by epitaxial growth is a new material process that can be applied to the creation of ultra-miniature transistors. It is expected to become a key technology for the development of various low-power high-performance electronic devices in the future,” said Munho Cho, the leader of the study.