The United States has developed a semiconductor-independent microelectronic device

A research team at the University of California, San Diego, USA, developed a nanostructured light-control microelectronic device that does not rely on semiconductor conduction and can increase conductivity over existing semiconductor devices under low-voltage and low-power laser excitation Nearly 10 times. This result was published in the November 4 issue of "Nature and Communications" magazine.

Conventional semiconductor devices are limited by the materials themselves and have limitations in terms of frequency and power consumption. The use of free electrons to replace semiconductor materials usually requires high-voltage, high-power laser or high-temperature excitation. The team fabricated a mushroom-shaped nanostructure (known as a "metamaterial" structure) on a silicon wafer that releases free electrons when excited by a DC voltage of 10 V or less and a low-power infrared laser Greatly improve the conductivity of the device.

This device can not completely replace the semiconductor device, but may be the best application of special needs, such as ultra-high frequency devices or high-power devices. Different metamaterial surface structures in the future may be suitable for different types of microelectronic devices and are used in the fields of photochemistry, photocatalysis and photovoltaic conversion.

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