Development of Ultra-Thin Electrode New Material Breaking Limits... Accelerating Next-Generation Semiconductors

KIST Successfully Overcomes 'Fermi Level Pinning' Limitation in Conventional Semiconductors

Schematic Diagram of Ultrathin Electrode New Material Overcoming the Limit of Fermi Level Pinning Phenomenon

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A domestic research team has developed an ultra-thin electrode new material that overcomes the Fermi level pinning phenomenon, a limitation of existing semiconductors, taking a step closer to the utilization of next-generation semiconductors. It is expected to contribute to accelerating the commercialization of next-generation system technologies such as the miniaturization of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on the 28th that a joint research team led by Dr. Hwang Do-gyeong of the Photovoltaic Materials Research Group and Professor Lee Ki-moon of the Department of Physics at Kunsan National University developed a new ultra-thin electrode material (Cl-SnSe2) and succeeded in implementing 2D semiconductor-based electronic devices and logic devices with freely controllable electrical properties.

To realize artificial intelligence systems and autonomous driving systems, which were mainly seen in movies, in everyday life, the processor that acts as the brain of the computer must be able to process more data. However, silicon-based logic devices, essential components of computer processors, face limitations as miniaturization and integration intensify, leading to increased processing costs and power consumption.

To overcome these limitations, research on electronic devices and logic devices based on ultra-thin 2D semiconductors at the atomic layer level is underway. However, 2D semiconductors are technically difficult to control electrical properties through doping compared to conventional silicon semiconductor devices, making it challenging to implement various logic circuits.

The research team was able to selectively control the electrical properties of semiconductor electronic devices using chlorine-doped tin selenide (Cl-SnSe2), a 2D electrode material. Existing 2D semiconductor devices showed only one characteristic of either N-type or P-type devices due to the Fermi level pinning phenomenon, making it difficult to implement complementary logic circuits. In contrast, by using the electrode material developed by the research team, defects at the semiconductor interface are minimized, allowing free control of both N-type and P-type device characteristics. In other words, it performs both functions in a single device without the need to fabricate separate N-type and P-type devices. Using the developed device, the team succeeded in implementing high-performance, low-power complementary logic circuits capable of different logic operations such as NOR and NAND.

Dr. Hwang said, “This will contribute to accelerating the industrialization of next-generation system technologies such as AI systems, which were difficult to commercialize due to technical limitations caused by the miniaturization and high integration of existing silicon semiconductor devices.” He added, “The developed 2D electrode material is very thin, showing high optical transmittance and flexibility, and can be applied to next-generation flexible and transparent semiconductor devices.”

The research results were published in the international academic journal 'Advanced Materials' (IF: 30.849).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.