For decades, the transistors on our microchips have become smaller, faster and cheaper. Approximately every two years the number of transistors on commercial chips has doubled—this phenomenon became known as "Moore's Law." But for several years now, Moore's law does not hold any more. The miniaturization has reached a natural limit, as completely new problems arise when a length scale of only a few nanometers is approached.
Now, however, the next big miniaturization step could soon become possible—with so-called "two-dimensional (2-D) materials" that may consist of only a single atomic layer. With the help of a novel insulator made of calcium fluoride, scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) have created an ultra-thin transistor, which has excellent electrical properties and, in contrast to previous technologies, can be miniaturized to an extremely small size. The new technology has now been presented in the journal Nature Electronics.
To read more, click here.