The era of silicon will end?  The new material has an overwhelming advantage over it

Silicon has become the basic material for building integrated circuits. However, it is not perfect because its properties as a semiconductor are far from what was expected. American engineers have discovered that there is another chemical compound that can easily replace the predominance of silicon – they can have a cubic molecule of boron arsenide. Does this mean that the era of silicon is coming to an end?

As the miniaturization of electronic circuits progresses, a serious problem arises in their design. It is located around Integrated circuit overheating And the high heat emission. Therefore, even in computers, cooling systems must be installed. boron arsenic It appears to passively cool the temperature of the systems.

Read also: Plastic treatments as an alternative to silicon? Scientists have found a cheap alternative

The problem with silicon is that it is not a good semiconductor, especially in conductivity to holes (in which the motion of a positively charged “hole” in the valence band of an atom is described). On the other hand, boron cubic arsenic particles have high thermal conductivitySo when designing integrated circuits they can solve many problems.

attention! Boron arsenic enters the salons. Will the era of silicon end?

This was not the first study on boron arsenic Its physical and chemical properties have been checked before. In a comprehensive study conducted by scientists from MIT, University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin and Boston College, it was found that the chemical compound has the best semiconductor properties and can successfully replace silicon in electronic circuits.

Read also: New record-breaking tandem solar cells. However, it lacks the resistance of silicon cells

The thermal conductivity of boron arsenide is ten times higher than that of silicon. The compound is not only considered the best semiconductor, but is also positioned on the podium among the best materials in this regard, along with diamond and isotope-rich boron nitride.

Read also: Silicon nanowires withstand high temperatures, and one of them surprised the scientists themselves

Now the biggest challenge for scientists. They need to find Practical use of the material – Not only mass production is important, but also how integrated circuits are built on it. The researchers themselves point out that they still have a lot of work to do in this area (and the need to find huge funds).

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