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Category: Semiconductors & Electronics

Semiconductor materials, electronic materials, photonics and device-enabling materials.

  • Hydrogel-Grown Perovskite Films Point to a New Route for X-Ray Detectors

    Research update — 16 October 2026. A peer-reviewed paper in Nature Synthesis describes a route to crystallizing halide perovskites inside a hydrogel-confined reaction environment. The researchers report dense perovskite films about 180 micrometres thick and demonstrate their use in pixelated X-ray imaging sensors. The result addresses a difficult materials-processing problem, but it should not be confused with a ready-to-manufacture or environmentally benign detector product.

    The processing problem

    Halide perovskites have attracted attention for optoelectronic and radiation-detection applications because their compositions and electronic characteristics can be engineered. A challenge in making thick, high-quality crystals is that conventional synthesis often depends on high-boiling-point, strongly coordinating organic solvents. Water would be a convenient processing medium, but it typically creates two major problems: relevant precursors can be insufficiently soluble and perovskite compounds can hydrolyze or decompose.

    What the hydrogel changes

    The authors report a polymer–water network that helps disperse lead iodide and organic iodide precursors while reducing aggregation and slowing water-induced degradation during crystal formation. The hydrogel also constrains crystal nucleation and growth spatially. According to spectroscopic measurements and calculations described in the paper, coordination between the polymer network and certain crystal facets can suppress some surface defects while allowing charge carriers to move through the resulting material.

    In simple terms, the hydrogel serves as an organized reaction environment. This is not the same as proving that an ordinary perovskite device is indefinitely stable in water; the result depends on the specific chemistry and processing environment.

    What did the study demonstrate?

    The published abstract reports 180 µm hydrogel-grown thick films with charge-carrier mobility of roughly 10 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. The team integrated the resulting films into pixelated X-ray imaging sensors and reports an X-ray detection limit of 19.8 nGyair s⁻¹, together with high-resolution imaging and negligible signal crosstalk under the reported test conditions.

    These are research-device measurements, not independent evidence that the approach meets every requirement of clinical radiography or industrial inspection equipment. Performance comparisons across papers require attention to measurement conditions, device geometry, calibration and stability tests.

    Why the advance matters to materials engineering

    Thick-film fabrication: radiation detection can require sufficiently thick absorbing layers, so a route to controllable growth is strategically important. Crystallization control: suppressing random aggregation and guiding crystal formation can improve film quality. Device integration: the paper demonstrates pixelated sensors rather than only isolated material samples. Process design: a confined water-rich environment offers a different option to explore alongside conventional solvent-based synthesis.

    What remains unresolved?

    The study does not establish cost-effective large-scale manufacturing, multi-year operational stability, radiation-dose endurance, manufacturability across production-area panels, or regulatory readiness. Importantly, the demonstrated chemistry uses lead-containing precursors; using a water-rich reaction medium does not remove material toxicity or eliminate the need for safe handling, containment and waste management. The hydrogel strategy may need significant adaptation for different perovskite compositions and device formats.

    Potential future applications

    If further validated, controlled thick-film perovskites could be investigated for digital X-ray detectors in scientific instruments, industrial inspection or medical-imaging research. Those applications will require rigorous validation of reliability, sensitivity, image quality, radiation response and environmental protection. Commercial readiness should be assessed separately from laboratory feasibility.

    For related Element Folio coverage, read the latest perovskite LED research update and controlled nucleation of 2D semiconductors. Both illustrate how processing chemistry and nucleation control influence final device behavior.

    Primary source

    Zhang, A., Zong, H., Yuan, R. et al. “Hydrogel-confined environment for aqueous-compatible perovskite crystallization.” Nature Synthesis, published 16 October 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s44160-026-01182-6; publisher’s abstract and article.

    Element Folio research note: this is an independent discussion of a peer-reviewed experimental result. Reported detector performance is specific to the authors’ devices and test conditions.

  • A New Way to Place 2D Semiconductor Crystals Exactly Where Circuits Need Them

    Research update | 8 October 2026 — Making an atomically thin semiconductor is only part of the challenge. For practical circuits, manufacturers also need crystals to begin growing in predictable positions. A peer-reviewed study published in Nature on 7 October 2026 reports a way to steer the starting point of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) crystal growth by using a nearby oxide layer that releases an etching species during deposition.

    What changed?

    Conventional area-selective growth can determine which patterned regions receive a semiconductor, but the first crystal nucleus may still appear at an unpredictable spot inside each region. When several nuclei appear, they can grow into separate domains and introduce grain boundaries. The new approach, called etching-flux-mediated single-centred nucleation, is designed to suppress those competing starting points.

    The researchers patterned a growth region next to a hafnium oxide (HfO₂) barrier. During metal–organic chemical vapour deposition, oxygen released by the barrier creates a lateral chemical environment that discourages MoS₂ nucleation near the edges. Under suitable conditions, the centre remains the preferred place for one nucleus to survive and expand. The key advance is therefore not merely selective coating: it is control over where a crystal starts within a selected area.

    What did the experiments demonstrate?

    • Positioned single crystals: single-crystal MoS₂ features on roughly the 10-micrometre scale, with controlled nucleation positions.
    • Reproducibility: more than 99% single-crystal yield across 400 patterned sites distributed over 16 regions of a 2-centimetre substrate in the reported experiment.
    • Electrical performance: field-effect mobility as high as 117 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ in the measured devices. This is a reported maximum, not a guaranteed production specification.
    • Process flexibility: a related zirconium oxide barrier enabled centred growth at 430 °C; the authors also showed line-shaped crystals, multiple transistors within a larger crystal and aligned lateral heterostructures.

    These measurements support the authors’ central claim that the chemical environment around a growth window can be engineered to control nucleation rather than leaving the position to chance. They do not establish that full commercial wafers or mass-produced circuits are already available.

    Why this matters for semiconductor manufacturing

    Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides are being investigated for transistors and other compact electronic devices. Their extremely thin channels may be useful where conventional scaling faces electrostatic or integration challenges. Yet a material that performs well in an isolated laboratory device is not automatically suitable for a densely patterned circuit. Crystal placement, orientation, consistency and compatible process temperatures all affect whether thousands or millions of devices can be fabricated predictably.

    A process that reliably initiates one crystal in a chosen location could help reduce unwanted grain boundaries and simplify the alignment of semiconductor regions with contacts and neighbouring devices. The demonstrated lateral heterostructures also suggest a route to more deliberate interfaces between different 2D materials.

    Possible applications

    The most direct research direction is patterned 2D transistor arrays, including devices built from MoS₂. Other plausible directions include aligned 2D material junctions, integrated sensing structures and experiments that require reproducible crystal placement. These are potential applications of the manufacturing principle, not products validated by this paper.

    Development stage and limitations

    This is a peer-reviewed laboratory demonstration, not a commercial fabrication qualification. The reported uniformity test covers 400 sites on a 2-centimetre substrate, which is meaningful but far short of a production-scale wafer yield assessment. The oxide barrier, oxygen flux and growth conditions must be carefully matched: an etching environment strong enough to suppress unwanted nuclei can also prevent growth if poorly controlled.

    Further work is needed to demonstrate consistent crystal orientation across different substrate types, large-wafer throughput, integration with contacts and dielectrics, device-to-device variability, long-term reliability and cost competitiveness. In particular, the paper notes that orientations on amorphous substrates can vary from site to site, even when each individual flake is single-crystalline.

    Element Folio perspective

    The wider lesson is that semiconductor fabrication may benefit from controlling the chemistry around a desired crystal as carefully as the material deposited inside it. This research moves beyond defining growth areas toward programming the first step of crystal formation—a useful distinction for anyone tracking the path from promising nanomaterials to manufacturable electronics.

    Primary source

    Jeongwon Park and colleagues, “Spatially deterministic nucleation of 2D semiconductors by etching flux,” Nature 658, 398–406 (published 7 October 2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11095-1. Read the original open-access paper.

  • Wafer-Scale Boron Carbon Nitride Could Fill a Missing Piece of 2D Electronics

    Two-dimensional semiconductors are attractive for electronics because an active layer only a few atoms thick could help engineers build denser devices and stack functional transistor layers vertically. One important obstacle, however, has been the shortage of scalable, high-performance p-type 2D semiconductors. A new study published in Nature on 30 September 2026 reports a notable step toward closing that gap: wafer-scale monolayer boron carbon nitride (BCN) that operates as a p-type semiconductor.

    What changed?

    The researchers engineered the chemistry used to grow BCN rather than relying on mechanically isolated flakes. Their approach controls the reaction pathways of two precursor molecules so that boron, carbon and nitrogen are delivered more uniformly during growth. Carbon atoms and carbon dimers are incorporated mainly at nitrogen sites in a continuously crystallized boron-nitride lattice, changing its electronic structure while retaining an atomically thin sheet.

    The resulting BCN has a reported bandgap of 1.90 eV. Arrays of p-channel field-effect transistors showed room-temperature field-effect hole mobility of about 100 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, on-current above 0.9 mA μm⁻¹ and an on/off current ratio of 10⁸. The University of Tokyo reports that the material was produced at two-inch wafer scale and that 224 transistors made from three growth batches were evaluated for device uniformity.

    Why it matters

    Modern complementary logic depends on both n-type and p-type transistors. Research on atomically thin electronics has produced promising n-type materials, but p-type performance and scalable growth have remained harder to achieve. That imbalance makes it difficult to build a complete 2D analogue of complementary logic at manufacturing-relevant dimensions.

    BCN is interesting because this work combines three requirements that rarely arrive together: atomically thin geometry, strong p-type transport and wafer-scale epitaxial growth. If the material and process prove compatible with practical semiconductor fabrication, they could provide a p-channel component for complementary 2D circuits rather than forcing designers to depend on small exfoliated flakes or less scalable material combinations.

    Possible applications

    The clearest long-term target is complementary 2D electronics, including low-power logic and monolithic three-dimensional integration in which active transistor layers are stacked vertically. Atomically thin channels are particularly attractive for such architectures because their small thickness may help control electrostatics while reducing the vertical space occupied by each device layer.

    The result is also a useful materials-design demonstration. It shows how precursor chemistry and substitutional carbon incorporation can turn a boron-nitride-derived monolayer into a useful semiconductor, suggesting a broader route for tuning electronic properties in chemically related 2D materials.

    Development stage and limitations

    This is an experimental research result, not a production-ready replacement for silicon CMOS. The reported devices demonstrate impressive transistor metrics and wafer-scale material growth, but commercial integration would require considerably more work. Among the questions still to be addressed are manufacturing yield at larger wafer sizes, long-term device and environmental stability, contact resistance, reproducibility across independent laboratories, compatibility with industrial process temperatures and dielectrics, and the performance of complete complementary circuits rather than individual p-channel devices.

    The two-inch demonstration is therefore best viewed as an important scaling milestone. It moves BCN beyond a small-flake materials experiment, but it does not by itself establish a semiconductor manufacturing process.

    Primary sources

    Peer-reviewed paper: Chien-Chih Tseng et al., “Wafer-scale epitaxy growth of high-mobility p-type boron carbon nitride,” Nature (published 30 September 2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11047-9.

    University research announcement: University of Tokyo School of Engineering, 1 October 2026: High-performance p-type two-dimensional semiconductor realized at wafer scale.

    Element Folio note: Performance values above are reported by the research team and should be interpreted as laboratory device results until independently reproduced and demonstrated in integrated circuits.

  • CoSi Nanoflakes Point to a Possible Alternative to Copper for Nanoscale Interconnects

    A September 2026 Nature Materials study reports single-crystalline cobalt monosilicide (CoSi) nanoflakes with an unusual thickness-dependent resistivity trend: instead of becoming more resistive as dimensions shrink, the reported CoSi structures showed lower resistivity as thickness decreased into the nanoscale range.

    Why this matters

    Copper is the dominant interconnect metal in modern electronics, but its effective resistivity rises as interconnect dimensions become very small because electron scattering at surfaces, interfaces and grain boundaries becomes increasingly important. That scaling problem is one reason researchers continue to investigate alternative conductors.

    What the study suggests

    The reported CoSi nanoflakes were single crystalline and demonstrated high reliability, making them interesting for advanced interconnect research. If such performance can be reproduced in manufacturable structures, CoSi could become relevant where conventional copper scaling is increasingly difficult.

    What remains uncertain

    A promising material property is only one part of semiconductor integration. Deposition route, patterning, contact resistance, interfaces, thermal budget, compatibility with existing process flows, defect control and wafer-scale economics will determine whether a laboratory result can become a production technology.

    Element Folio view

    The important point is not that CoSi has “replaced copper,” but that interconnect scaling is becoming a materials problem as much as a lithography problem. Alternative conductors that behave differently at small dimensions deserve close attention.

    Primary source: Chen, J. et al., Nature Materials (2026), DOI 10.1038/s41563-026-02740-1.

  • Graphene vs Silicon: Can Graphene Replace Conventional Semiconductors?

    Engineering Comparison

    Graphene has extraordinary carrier mobility, strength and thermal properties, while silicon offers the controllable bandgap, manufacturing maturity and device ecosystem that modern electronics depends on.

    Electronic structure

    Pristine graphene behaves as a zero-bandgap semimetal. That enables very high carrier mobility but makes it difficult to turn a transistor fully off in the same way as conventional silicon logic. Silicon has a useful semiconductor bandgap and decades of doping, oxidation and lithography process development.

    Manufacturing maturity

    Silicon wafers, CMOS fabrication, packaging and design tools form one of the most sophisticated industrial ecosystems ever developed. Large-area, low-defect graphene production and precise integration remain more challenging.

    Where graphene is promising

    Graphene may be valuable in sensors, transparent conductive layers, high-frequency devices, thermal management, composites and specialized electronics where its unique combination of properties matters more than conventional digital switching behavior.

    Replacement or complement?

    The more realistic near-term picture is often complement rather than universal replacement. New materials can be integrated with silicon or used in applications where silicon is not optimal.

    Frequently asked questions

    Why hasn’t graphene replaced silicon CPUs?

    A major reason is graphene’s lack of a natural bandgap suitable for conventional digital switching, combined with silicon’s enormous manufacturing advantage.

    Is graphene more conductive than silicon?

    Carrier mobility can be extremely high, but device performance depends on architecture, contacts, defects and operating requirements rather than one property alone.

    Where could graphene reach commercialization faster?

    Sensors, coatings, conductive composites, thermal interfaces and specialty electronic/optical applications may be more practical than replacing mainstream CMOS logic.

    Related: Digital Engineering · Comparisons · Materials Library

  • Silicon (Si): Semiconductor Properties and Engineering Applications

    Periodic Table Guide

    Silicon links traditional materials engineering with modern electronics. It is a structural component of silicate minerals and glass, an alloying addition in metals, and the foundation of most semiconductor integrated circuits.

    Quick facts

    Atomic number 14 Symbol Si
    Atomic mass 28.085 Group 14
    Period 3 Category Metalloid

    Why silicon dominates semiconductor manufacturing

    High-purity silicon can be grown into large, low-defect single crystals and deliberately doped to control electrical behavior. Its native oxide, silicon dioxide, is also technologically valuable because it can form a stable insulating layer. Decades of process development have created an enormous manufacturing ecosystem around silicon wafers.

    Silicon in alloys

    Silicon is widely used in aluminum casting alloys because it improves fluidity and can reduce shrinkage problems. Ferrosilicon is used in steelmaking as a deoxidizer and alloying addition. Silicon also contributes to electrical steels used in transformers and motors, where composition and processing are tuned to manage magnetic losses.

    Silica and silicates

    Silicon dioxide and silicate minerals are major constituents of the Earth’s crust. Silica is central to glass, refractories, foundry materials and optical fibers. Engineered silicon carbide combines high hardness, thermal stability and useful semiconductor properties for abrasive, structural and power-electronics applications.

    Emerging competition and complements

    Wide-bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride are increasingly used where higher voltage, temperature or switching efficiency is required. They do not simply replace silicon everywhere; device performance, wafer size, cost, packaging and manufacturing maturity determine the best technology.

    Key takeaways

    • This guide is written for practical engineering and technical understanding.
    • Property values can vary with purity, processing route, temperature, microstructure and test method.
    • For design or procurement decisions, verify values against the applicable material specification and current standard.

    Frequently asked questions

    Is silicon a metal?

    Silicon is generally classified as a metalloid because its properties fall between typical metals and nonmetals.

    Why is silicon used for computer chips?

    It combines controllable semiconductor behavior, high-purity crystal growth, a useful native oxide and a mature manufacturing infrastructure.

    What is the difference between silicon and silicone?

    Silicon is the chemical element Si. Silicone is a family of polymers containing silicon, oxygen and organic groups.

    Reference sources

    For authoritative element data, see the Royal Society of Chemistry periodic table and the IUPAC Periodic Table of Elements.

    Continue exploring: Periodic Table · Materials Library · Material Properties · Comparisons