Fastest Superatomic Semiconductor Unlikely To Be Used in Commercial Products Despite Setting Speed Record

Semiconductors are present in all electronics from your cellphones, laptops and tablets. Researchers have discovered the fastest semiconductor, but it might not enter the commercial market.

Re6Se8Cl2 - The Fastest Superatomic Semiconductor

Jack Tulyag, a PhD student collaborating with chemistry professor Milan Delor, identified Re6Se8Cl2, a superatomic material, as the quickest and most efficient semiconductor to date. When excitons in Re6Se8Cl2 come into touch with phonons, they actually connect with them to form new quasiparticles known as acoustic exciton-polarons, as opposed to scattering.

Despite the fact that polarons occur in a wide variety of substances, Re6Se8Cl2's polarons are unique in that they can flow in a ballistic or scatter-free, manner. One day, these ballistic behaviors may lead to speedier and more effective technologies.

Acoustic exciton-polarons in Re6Se8Cl2 moved twice as quickly as silicon electrons in the team's studies, traversing several microns of the sample in less than a nanosecond. The researchers believe that exciton-polarons might travel over 25 micrometers at a time since polarons have a half-life of approximately 11 nanoseconds.

Additionally, because these quasiparticles are controlled by light rather than an electrical current and gating, theoretical devices might achieve processing rates of femtoseconds, which is six orders of magnitude faster than the nanoseconds possible in contemporary Gigahertz electronics at room temperature.

"In terms of energy transport, Re6Se8Cl2 is the best semiconductor that we know of, at least so far," Delor said.

However, Re6Se8Cl2, is unlikely to be used for a commercial product because its first element, Rhenium, is one of the rarest and most expensive. Tulyag and the Delor group have developed an advanced imaging technique to directly track the formation and movement of polarons, the team is prepared to investigate whether any other superatomic contenders could surpass the speed record set by Re6Se8Cl2. This is because they have the new theory from the Berkelbach group under their belt.

Nobody has observed sustained room-temperature ballistic exciton transfer in any material other than Re6Se8Cl2, per Delor. However, now that they've thought of other materials that could exhibit similar behavior, they have more materials in mind. Delor added that there's a wide range of 2D semiconductor materials, including superatomic ones, that have characteristics that are conducive to the generation of acoustic polarons.

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What Is a Semiconductor?

A semiconductor is a material that has particular electrical characteristics that allow it to function as a computer and other electronic device foundation. Usually, it is a solid chemical element or compound that, under some circumstances, conducts electricity and, in others, does not. Because of this, it's the perfect medium for managing electrical current and common electrical appliances.

The term "conductor" refers to a material that can conduct electricity, while "insulator" refers to a material that cannot. Between the conductor and the insulator is a semiconductor material. It regulates and oversees the electric current flow in electrical devices and equipment. It is, hence, a common part of electronic chips used in a wide range of electronic devices, including solid-state storage, and computing components.

Semiconductors have characteristics halfway between conductivity and insulator. They are used to make transistors, integrated circuits (ICs), and diodes.

Antimony, arsenic, boron, carbon, germanium, selenium, silicon, sulfur, and tellurium are examples of elemental semiconductors. The majority of ICs are built on silicon, the most well-known of these materials.

The oxides of most metals, gallium arsenide, and indium antimonide, are examples of common semiconductor compounds. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is also frequently used in low-noise, high-gain, weak-signal amplifiers.