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.
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