According to the latest issue of "Nature Communications," U.S. engineers fabricated the first light-controlled microelectronic device that does not require semiconductors. The micro device uses a new superconducting material that increases conductivity by a factor of 10 when a low voltage and low power laser is applied. This discovery paves the way for the development of faster, more power-efficient, semiconductor-less microelectronics and more efficient solar panels.
According to news of November 10, the performance of the existing transistors and other microelectronic devices will be limited by the material composition. Semiconductors have a band gap, meaning that they need the impetus of external energy to make the electrons flow. The speed of electrons is limited because electrons collide with atoms as they flow through semiconductors, so semiconductors limit the device's conductance or current.
The release of electrons from the material is a challenging task that requires the application of high-voltage, high-energy lasers above 100 V or ultra-high temperatures above 540 ° C, which can not be applied to micro- and nano-scale electronics.
A research team led by Dan Sevippe, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, San Diego, found a new way to break down the conductivity barrier and validate it on a microscopic scale. They produce miniature devices that do not require these extreme conditions to release electrons from the material. The device includes an engineered "superface" that consists of mushroom-like gold nanostructures located on parallel gold strip arrays.
This design allows super-surfaces to generate "hot spots" with high-intensity electric fields when low-voltage and low-energy infrared light is applied below 10 volts to provide sufficient energy to pull and release electrons from the metal. Experiments show that the conductivity of the device has more than 10 times increase.
The researchers said that although this can not completely replace all the semiconductor devices, but for some very high frequency or power devices, it is not the best way. At present, the research team is exploring the application of the technology in addition to other applications of electronics, so as to create a new type of photovoltaic devices possible.
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