Conventional computer chips made with silicon semiconductors have limitations in terms of speed and energy efficiency. Electrons, which are responsible for transmitting data in these chips, tend to scatter and waste energy as heat, resulting in slower data transmission. However, a recent discovery by Milan Delor and his colleagues at Columbia University could potentially revolutionize computer chip performance.
Delor and his team have found a superatomic material, with the chemical formula Re6Se8Cl2, that acts as an incredibly fast and efficient semiconductor. This material, made of rhenium, selenium, and chlorine, forms atom clusters that still behave like the original elements. While the particles called excitons in this material move slower than electrons in silicon, they move in perfectly straight lines, covering larger distances in less time.
If a transistor utilizing excitons instead of electrons could be created using this new material, data transmission from one side of the transistor to the other could be significantly faster. In fact, it is estimated that these excitons could travel 100 to 1000 times faster than electrons in a silicon chip. The potential implications of this discovery are huge, with the possibility of gigahertz processors being able to reach hundreds of gigahertz or even terahertz in terms of switching speed.
However, the development of a working computer chip using this new material is still several decades away. Silicon chip manufacturing techniques have been perfected over many years, and switching to a new material would require starting from scratch. Additionally, rhenium, one of the key components of this material, is a rare element compared to the abundant availability of silicon. As a result, chips made with Re6Se8Cl2 would likely be reserved for specialized applications such as spacecraft and quantum computers.
Insights:
– The discovery of a superatomic material with exceptional semiconductor properties could potentially revolutionize the speed and efficiency of computer chips.
– Excitons in this material move in perfectly straight lines, allowing for faster data transmission compared to the scattering of electrons in silicon chips.
– The potential performance gains in terms of switching speed could be significant, reaching hundreds of gigahertz or even terahertz.
– However, the practical implementation of this new material in computer chips is still far in the future, as it requires overcoming manufacturing challenges and the rarity of its key component, rhenium.
