Updates in silicon and electronics technology.

Ed.: This is a special feature courtesy of Binghamton University.

Transistors can process and store information. Purdue University researchers have created a feasible way to combine transistors and memory on a chip, potentially bringing faster computing. They used a semiconductor that has ferroelectric properties. This way two materials become one material, and without worry about the interface issues. The result is a so-called ferroelectric semiconductor field-effect transistor, built in the same way as transistors currently used on computer chips. The material, alpha indium selenide, not only has ferroelectric properties, but also addresses the issue of a conventional ferroelectric material usually acting as an insulator rather than a semiconductor due to a so-called wide “band gap,” which means that electricity cannot pass through and no computing happens. (IEEC file #11468, Science Daily, 12/9/19)

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