Generally speaking, a computer chip consists of electronic components that always perform the same operation. In the future, we have more flexibility: we can switch new types of adaptive transistors in an instant. So that they can perform different logic tasks according to need. This fundamentally changes the possibilities of chip design and opens up entirely new opportunities in artificial intelligence, neural networks, and even logic that can handle more values than just 0s and 1s.
To achieve this, scientists from TU Wien (Vienna) did not rely on the usual silicon technology, but on germanium. But their attempt initially appeared to be successful. The world’s most flexible transistor has now been produced using germanium. And an article on the attempt has been published in the journal ACS Nano. The special properties of germanium and the use of dedicated program gate electrodes make it possible to prototype new components that could usher in a new era of chip technology.
An extra control electrode changes everything
The transistor, like IRFZ44NPBF, is the foundation of every modern electronic device: it’s a tiny component that allows current to flow or stops it, depending on whether a voltage is applied to a control electrode, making it possible to build simple logic circuits and memory storage.
How to charge is transported in a transistor depends on the material used: either there are freely moving electrons, or there may be a lack of electrons. So the point has positive charge. We call them cavities – they can also pass through the material.
In the new transistor from TU Wien, we manipulate electrons and holes simultaneously in a very special way: “We connect the two electrodes with an extremely thin wire made of germanium. And we connect the interface to the metal on both sides. On top of this germanium segment, we place a gate electrode, just like the gate electrode in a conventional transistor. Conclusively, our transistor has another control electrode, which It can dynamically program the function of transistors,” explains Dr. Masir Sistani, a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Walter Weber at the Institute of Solid State Electronics at TU Wien.
This structure can control electrons and holes separately. “The use of germanium is one of the decisive advantages,” Masir Sistani said. “This is because germanium has a very special electronic structure: when you apply a voltage, as you would expect, the current initially increases. However, after a certain threshold, the current decreases again – we call this negative Differential resistance. With the help of control electrodes, we can adjust the voltage at which this threshold is located. This creates a new degree of freedom that we can give the transistor the characteristics we need.”
This way, for example, we can switch a NAND gate to a NOR gate. “Until now, the intelligence in electronics has only come from the interconnection of a few transistors, each of which has only a fairly primitive function. In the future, we can transfer this intelligence to the adaptability of the new transistors themselves,” said Professor Walter Weber. . “Due to the increasing adaptability, we can do arithmetic operations with 24 transistors now. In this way, we can also significantly improve the speed and energy efficiency of the circuit.”
Professor Weber’s research group has only been at the Technical University of Vienna for about two years. Professor Walter Weber is famous for his work on a novel, reconfigurable electronics. Dr. Masir Sistani is an expert in germanium electronics, specializing in electron transport phenomena. Perfectly match these two areas of expertise to make adaptive germanium transistors possible. “We still need to optimize some details, but we’ve shown that the basic idea of our first programmable germanium transistor actually works. This is a decisive breakthrough for us,” Masir Sistani said.
Artificial intelligence is expected to be changed
These new possibilities are particularly interesting for applications in the field of artificial intelligence: “Our human intelligence is based on dynamically changing circuits between nerve cells. With the new transistors, it is now possible to change circuits in a targeted manner.” “Walter Weber said. We can implement multivalued logic in this way – that is, a circuit can handle many more possible states except 0s and 1s.
The rapid industrial application of this new technology is real. In the semiconductor industry today we use this material and do not require completely new manufacturing processes. In some ways, the technique is even simpler than before: Today, semiconductor materials are dope, that is, rich in single foreign atoms. For germanium-based transistors this is not necessary, we can use pure germanium.
“We don’t want to completely replace the previous transistor technology, it would be too presumptuous,” Masir Sistani said. “it is more likely to integrate new technologies into computer chips as add-ons in the future. For some applications, relying on adaptive transistors will only be more energy efficient.”
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