The secret is to replace silicon with Bismuth – the stuff is usually found in pink stomach medicine Pepto-Bismol.
According to a paper penned by Peking University researchers, this bismuth-based wizardry delivers 40 per cent more speed while using 10 per cent less power than the latest silicon-based efforts from Intel and TSMC.
If true, that’s enough to make the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street take notice—although the actual tech behind it is a mind-melting mouthful.
Led by physical chemistry professor Peng Hailin, the research team believes their approach represents a fundamental shift in semiconductor technology.
“If chip innovations based on existing materials are considered a ‘short cut,’ then our development of 2D material-based transistors is akin to ‘changing lanes,’” Peng said in the statement.
The paper published in Nature under the racey title "Low-power 2D gate-all-around logics via epitaxial monolithic 3D integration," the study says they’ve managed to build a wafer-scale, multi-layer transistor with ridiculously high electron mobility and efficiency.
The paper uses phrases like "high-K layered native-oxide dielectric Bi₂SeO₅ with an atomically smooth interface," which sounds a bit like alchemy to us.
However, more digestibly, the boffins claim a 30 nm gate length, which sounds chunky next to the so-called "3 nm" process being touted by TSMC and Job’s Mob.
But, as any industry cynic knows, these "nm" labels have been marketing speak for years. TSMC’s N3E process has a gate pitch of at least 45 nm and a metal pitch of 23 nm. Intel’s upcoming 18A node has a Metal pitch between 30-36 nm. So, in reality, Peking’s bismuth transistors aren’t miles behind.
If the numbers are to be believed, this technology could increase chip speeds by 40 per cent, meaning your bog-standard 5 GHz processor could be humming along at a spicy 7 GHz.
The researchers are already calling it "the fastest, most efficient transistor ever," though history is littered with alternative materials that were supposed to replace silicon but ended up in the dustbin of forgotten tech dreams.
Still, this all plays into a larger story of China rapidly closing the gap in semiconductor technology. With Huawei supposedly testing an EUV lithography machine that could rival ASML’s best, it’s not whether China will catch up, but when.
Whether bismuth plays a role remains to be seen, but the days of the West comfortably leading the chip race look increasingly numbered.
“While this path is born out of necessity due to current sanctions, it also forces researchers to find solutions from fresh perspectives,” Peng added.
