The best semiconductor of them all?

The best semiconductor of them all?

a year ago
Anonymous $Smh9ljW9Kw

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220721141459.htm

For one thing, although silicon lets electrons whizz through its structure easily, it is much less accommodating to "holes" -- electrons' positively charged counterparts -- and harnessing both is important for some kinds of chips. What's more, silicon is not very good at conducting heat, which is why overheating issues and expensive cooling systems are common in computers.

Now, a team of researchers at MIT, the University of Houston, and other institutions has carried out experiments showing that a material known as cubic boron arsenide overcomes both of these limitations. It provides high mobility to both electrons and holes, and has excellent thermal conductivity. It is, the researchers say, the best semiconductor material ever found, and maybe the best possible one.