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and memristors, technologies that will be critical to constructing more advanced electronics.


2D Electronics In the ongoing search for


smaller, faster and more efficient electronics, the final step will be devices made with materials just one or two atoms thick. It is im- possible for devices to be smaller than this limit, and their small scale often makes them operate much quicker and consume far less energy. While ultrathin semiconductors have been exten- sively studied, it is also neces- sary to have atomically thin in- sulators — materials that block electric currents — to construct working electronic devices like transistors and memristors. Atomically thin layers of


carbon with disordered atomic structures can function as an ex- cellent insulator for constructing two-dimensional devices. The re- searchers in the collaboration have shown that such carbon layers can be formed from carbon dots derived from coal char. To demonstrate their capabilities, the U. of I. group led by Cao de- veloped two examples of two-di- mensional devices. “It’s really quite exciting, be-


cause this is the first time that coal, something we normally see as low-tech, has been directly linked to the cutting edge of mi- croelectronics,” Cao says.


Transistor Dielectric Cao’s group used coal-de-


rived carbon layers as the gate dielectric in two-dimensional transistors built on the semimet- al graphene or semiconductor molybdenum disulfide to enable


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more than two times faster de- vice operating speed with lower energy consumption. Like other atomically thin materials, the coal-derived carbon layers do not possess “dangling bonds,” or elec- trons that are not associated with a chemical bond. These sites, which are abundant on the surface of conventional three-di- mensional insulators, alter their electrical properties by effective- ly functioning as “traps,” slowing down the transport of mobile charges and thus the transistor switching speed. However, unlike other atomi-


cally thin materials, the new coal- derived carbon layers are amor- phous, meaning that they do not possess a regular, crystalline structure. They therefore do not have boundaries between differ- ent crystalline regions that serve as conduction pathways leading to “leakage,” where undesired elec- trical currents flow through the insulator and cause substantial additional power consumption during device operations.


Memristor Filament Another application Cao’s


Jan/Feb, 2024 Better Microelectronics...from Coal?


group considered is memristors — electronic components capable of both storing and operating on data to greatly enhance the im- plementation of AI technology. These devices store and repre- sent data by modulating a con- ductive filament formed by elec- trochemical reactions between a pair of electrodes with the insu- lator sandwiched in between. The researchers found that


the adoption of ultrathin coal-de- rived carbon layers as the insula- tor allows the fast formation of such filament with low energy consumption to enable high de- vice operating speed with low power. Moreover, atomic size rings in these coal-derived car- bon layers confine the filament to enhance the reproducible de- vice operations for enhanced da- ta storage fidelity and reliability. The new devices developed


by the Cao group provide proof- of-principle for the use of coal-de- rived carbon layers in two-di- mensional devices. What re- mains is to show that such de- vices can be manufactured at scale.


Web: www.illinois.edu r Global Semicon Capacity Continued from page 1


strategic importance of semicon- ductor manufacturing to national and economic security is a key cat- alyst of these trends.” Covering 2022 to 2024, the


World Fab Forecast report shows that the global semiconductor in- dustry plans to begin operation of 82 new volume fabs, including


to Reach Record High 11 projects in 2023 and 42 proj- ects in 2024 spanning wafer sizes ranging from 300 to 100 mm.


China Leads Boosted by government


funding and other incentives, China is expected to increase its share of global semiconductor production. Chinese chip manu- Continued on page 8


Contents


Tech-Op-Ed ........................... 4 Tech Watch ............................10 People.................................... 12 Business News.......................14 Business Briefs..................... 15 Management.......................... 16 EMS ..................................... 18 Electronic Mfg. Prods............ 28 Production............................. 50 Partnering.............................. 52 Distribution............................ 54 New Products....................... 74 High-Tech Events...................84 2024 Editorial Calendar......... 84 Advertisers Index.................... 86


Product Preview: IME West................................ 66


Special Focus: Components & Assembly...... 56


See at IME West, Booth 1833


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