MIT studies new transistors

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are preparing to publish a new semiconductor technology study. They hope this technology will help launch a new phase of development for ultra-small electronic devices such as iPods and mobile phones.

These engineers claim that silicon transistors, which are extremely important for electronic devices such as iPods, cell phones and consumer devices, will reach the size and performance threshold. within 10 to 15 years. So MIT, along with other research organizations, is trying to come up with new materials in the hope of keeping the pace of electrical conductivity in transistors.

(Photo: triontech.com) One of these materials is an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) compound, a material that can conduct electricity many times faster than silicon. MIT's Microcomputer Technology (MTL) Laboratory recently introduced a type of InGaAs made of transistors that can conduct electricity at 2.5 times faster than advanced silicon devices. most current. This type of transistor is only 60 nm (one nanometer is one billionth of a meter).

With this type of transistor, the electronics industry can produce smaller devices and be able to process information faster.

Mr. Jesus del Alamo, an MTL professor of electronics and computer science, said: "Every day, every one of us needs the operation of billions of transistors in mobile phones. dynamics, laptops, iPods, cars, kitchens, etc. We are looking for new semiconductor materials to produce more efficient transistors but smaller and smaller sizes than".

MIT's research was presented at IEEE's World Electronics Conference held on December 11.

Transistor technology is still young, and researchers still have to find ways to overcome some challenges. For example, InGaAs are often easier to crack than silicon, so making large transistors with this material can be very difficult. Therefore, Mr. del Alamo said that at least two years, people can successfully build transistors using InGaAs.

Intel, one of the sponsors of the MTL lab, also welcomed this new research. Robert Chau, Intel's director of transistors and nanotechnology, said: "The 60nm InGaAs transistor research work that the team of GS del Alamo has done has yielded very attractive results. with low power consumption (about 0.5v) and an extremely important research milestone ".