Scientists develop transistor with a 1 nanometer gate

Scientists at UC Berkeley have developed what they say is the smallest transistor to date. They managed to make a transistor with a gate length of 1 nanometer, using material that is also used for lubricants.

The researchers’ tiny transistor contains a gate of molybdenum disulfide, or MoS2, an inorganic compound of sulfur and molybdenum, which is best known as a component in lubricants. It improves the frictional properties of lubricating grease. In the semiconductor industry, the material is making a name for itself as an alternative to silicon.

The advantage of MoS2 is that it is a two-dimensional semiconductor that retains its electrical properties in atom-thin layers with a thickness of approximately 0.65 nanometers. In addition, the flow of electrons is easy to control and the thin MoS2 layers lead to low leakage currents. These leakage currents are an obstacle with silicon. With transistor gates shorter than 5nm, the leakage currents increase to such an extent that the material can no longer be used efficiently on this scale. With other silicon alternatives, such as graphene, the electrons are less manageable and they are often difficult to produce on a large scale.

The researchers from Berkeley Labs Materials Science Division combined their MoS2 gate with a gate electrode based on a carbon nanotube. According to the makers, this combination shows excellent shifting capabilities. The gate length was approximately 4nm in the off mode and a few nanometers in the on mode.

The Berkeley team emphasizes that it is a proof-of-concept, which is far from ready to be applied in practice. “This work is important to show that we are no longer limited by the 5 nanometer gate for our transistors. Moore’s Law can go on a little longer by properly developing semiconductor materials and part architecture,” said Ali. Javey of Berkeley Labs. He and his colleagues publish the research in Science under the title ‘MoS2 transistors with 1-nanometer gate lengths’.