SoylentNews

upstart writes:

New process significantly speeds up 2D transistor production:

A recent MIT paper proposes a new method to "grow" 2D transistors on top of wafers, potentially speeding the production of ultrathin computing materials. The study claims to solve the heating and assembly problems of other methods, possibly opening new avenues for semiconductors.

Manufacturers like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC continually find ways to make ever-smaller transistors to guarantee ongoing increases in processing power each year. TSMC and Samsung have started 3nm semiconductor production as Intel looks forward to counting transistor size in Angstroms, while talk has also shifted to "2D materials" that are only a few atoms thick.

[...] One problem with building the 2D material molybdenum disulfide is heat. Growing some of its components requires temperatures over 550 degrees Celsius, but silicon wafer circuits start decaying beyond 400. Normally, manufacturers graft the 2D material onto the wafer after its production, often leading to imperfections.

The researchers instead grew the material directly onto the wafer with a new kind of kiln that separates part of the cooking process. A high-temperature zone processes the sulfur, after which it flows into the lower-temperature region where the molybdenum and the wafer are kept below 400C. The system leads to more uniform surfaces and faster production.

While the prior method could take an entire day to grow a layer, the new technique can grow a layer in under an hour. The improvement could enable growth across larger surfaces, and the researchers plan to explore stacking layers.

Journal Reference:
Zhu, J., Park, JH., Vitale, S.A. et al. Low-thermal-budget synthesis of monolayer molybdenum disulfide for silicon back-end-of-line integration on a 200 mm platform. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01375-6

Original Submission