Hailed as one of the largest inventions of the 20th Century, transistors make integral components of modern electronics that amplify or change electrical signals. As electronics become smaller, it becomes more and more difficult to continue to reduce silicon -based transistors. Did the development of our electronics hit a wall?
Now, a research team led by the Institute of Industrial Sciences, the University of Tokyo, has requested a solution. As detailed in their new article, to be published in 2025 Symposium on technology and VLSI circuits ,, The team has abandoned silicon and rather chose to create a transistor based on indium oxide doped with gallium (Ingaox). This material can be structured as a crystalline oxide, whose ordered crystalline network is well suited to the mobility of electrons.
“We also wanted our crystalline oxide transistor to have a” gate-all-air “structure, by which the door, which lights or deactivate the current, surrounds the channel where the current circulates”, explains Anlan Chen, principal author of the study. “By completely wrapping the door around the canal, we can improve efficiency and scalability compared to traditional doors.”
With these objectives in mind, the team got to work. The researchers knew that they should introduce impurities into indium oxide by “doping” with gallium. This would make the material react with electricity more favorable.
“Indium oxide contains oxygen vacuum defects, which facilitate the diffusion of carriers and therefore the stability of lower devices,” explains Masaharu Kobayashi, principal author. “We have boosted indium oxide with gallium to remove vacancies in oxygen and in turn improve the reliability of transistors.”
The team used the deposit of atomic layers to coat the region of the chain of an elongated transistor with a slim Ingaox film, an atomic layer at the same time. After the deposit, the film was heated to transform it into a crystalline structure necessary for the mobility of the electrons. This process ultimately made it possible to manufacture a “transistor with field effects based on metal oxide” (MOSFET).
“Our Mosfet in Allem2/ VS, “explains Dr. Chen.” Above all, the device demonstrates promising reliability by operating stable under an applied constraint for almost three hours. In fact, our MOSFET has surpassed the similar devices that have already been reported. “”
The efforts presented by the team have provided the field a new transistor design which considers the importance of materials and structure. Research is a step towards the development of reliable electronic components and high density adapted to applications with high demand for calculation, such as megadata and artificial intelligence. These tiny transistors promise to help new generation technology gently, making a big difference in our daily life.
The article “A nanofeuille oxide semiconductor transistor in AllemX For performance and improving reliability “was published in the 2025 Symposium on VLSI technology and circuits.