创新背景

纳米级硅半导体生产的挑战是开发新一代未来电子设备的关键瓶颈之一，包括增强现实、柔性显示器和新的可穿戴设备，以及许多尚未发现的应用。

创新过程

新南威尔士大学悉尼分校的研究人员开发了一种微小、透明和灵活的材料，用于晶体管中的新型介电(绝缘体)组件。这种新材料将实现传统硅半导体电子产品无法做到的事情——在不影响其功能的情况下变得更小。

晶体管是一种小型半导体器件，用作电子信号的开关，是集成电路的重要组成部分。所有的电子产品，从手电筒到助听器到笔记本电脑，都是通过晶体管与电阻、电容等其他元件的各种排列和相互作用而成为可能的。

随着时间的推移，晶体管变得越来越小，功能越来越强大，电子产品也一样。但有一个规模问题：开发更强大的未来电子产品将需要亚纳米厚度的晶体管——这是传统硅半导体无法达到的尺寸。

随着微电子小型化的发生，由于信号从一个晶体管传递到另一个晶体管时的能量损失和耗散，目前使用的材料被推到极限。微电子器件不断缩小尺寸以达到更高的速度。当这种收缩发生时，由于信号从一个晶体管传递到另一个晶体管时的能量损失和耗散，设计参数会受到这样一种影响，即当前使用的材料被推到极限。目前由硅基半导体制成的最小晶体管只有3纳米。

为了了解这些设备需要有多小——想象一下尺子上的一厘米，然后数一下这一厘米中的10毫米。现在，在这些毫米中，再数一数另外一百万个小片段——每一个都是一纳米。在这样的限制下，有巨大的动力从根本上创新新材料和技术，以满足全球微电子市场永不满足的需求。

在研究中，MMFI工程师使用独立的单晶钛酸锶(STO)膜作为栅极介质制作了透明场效应晶体管。他们发现他们的新型微型器件的性能与目前的硅半导体场效应晶体管相匹配。

MMFI的学者利用他们不同的专业知识来完成这项工作。其中一个项目是制造独立的STO并研究其电学性能。随着项目的进展，它发展到使用独立的STO制造2D晶体管。

创新关键点

研究人员在不降低其性能的情况下，将传统的3D块状材料转化为准2d形式，这意味着它可以像乐高积木一样，与其他材料自由组装，为各种新兴和未发现的应用创造高性能晶体管。

创新价值

它不仅为克服目前硅半导体工业在小型化方面的基本限制铺平了一条关键的道路，而且还填补了由于硅的不透明和刚性性质而导致的半导体应用的空白。该技术在大尺寸晶圆生产和工业应用方面具有前景。

The application of new dielectric components to micro transistors can greatly improve the performance of electronic components

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney have developed a small, transparent and flexible material for a new type of dielectric (insulator) component in transistors. The new material will do what traditional silicon semiconductor electronics cannot - get smaller without compromising their functionality.

A transistor is a small semiconductor device that is used as a switch for electronic signals and is an important part of an integrated circuit. All electronic products, from flashlights to hearing AIDS to laptops, are made possible by various arrangements and interactions of transistors with other components such as resistors and capacitors.

Transistors have become smaller and more powerful over time, and so have electronics. But there is a problem of scale: developing more powerful electronics of the future will require transistors that are subnanometer-thick -- a size beyond the reach of conventional silicon semiconductors.

As microelectronic miniaturization occurs, the materials currently used are pushed to their limits due to the loss and dissipation of energy as signals are passed from one transistor to another. Microelectronic devices are shrinking in size to achieve higher speeds. When this shrinkage occurs, the design parameters are affected in such a way that the currently used material is pushed to its limit due to the loss and dissipation of energy as the signal passes from one transistor to the other. The smallest transistors currently made from silicon-based semiconductors are only 3 nanometers.

To get an idea of how small these devices need to be -- imagine a centimeter on a ruler, and count 10 millimeters of that centimeter. Now, within those millimeters, count another million tiny fragments -- each one a nanometer. Within such constraints, there is a huge incentive to radically innovate in new materials and technologies to meet the insatiable demand of the global microelectronics market.

In this study, MMFI engineers fabricated transparent FET using an independent strontium titanate (STO) film as the gate medium. They found that the performance of their new micro-device matched that of current silicon semiconductor field-effect transistors.

MMFI scholars draw on their diverse expertise to accomplish this work. One project is to make stand-alone STOs and study their electrical properties. As the project progressed, it evolved to manufacture 2D transistors using standalone STO.