Chinese scientists have discovered cubic boron arsenide, or the "best" semiconductor material to date
Recently, research teams from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Houston, and other institutions in the United States have discovered the best semiconductor materials to date. This material is called cubic boron arsenide, which provides high mobility for electrons and holes, excellent conductivity, and extremely high thermal conductivity. The relevant achievements have been published in the recent journal Science, and the author column includes multiple Chinese individuals, including Chen Gang, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ren Zhifeng, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (University of Houston).
It is worth noting that cubic boron arsenide can only be produced and tested on a small-scale scale in the laboratory, and is uneven. Scientists still need to do more work to determine whether cubic boron arsenide can be manufactured in a practical and economical manner. However, researchers suggest that in the near future, this material may find some uses that could have a significant impact on its properties.
It is reported that cubic boron arsenide also has a high mobility of electrons and holes, and this material has a very good bandgap, which endows it with great potential as a semiconductor material. As is well known, mature commercial silicon materials have good electron mobility, but their hole mobility is poor, while other materials such as gallium arsenide also have good electron mobility, but do not have good hole mobility.
The research leader stated that the main bottleneck of many electronic products is heat. Although silicon carbide has a low electric mobility, its thermal conductivity is three times that of silicon, so silicon carbide is still popular among car companies. The thermal conductivity and mobility of boron arsenide are 10 times higher than that of silicon, second only to diamond and cubic boron nitride. Of course, as a newly discovered material, many other properties such as the long-term stability of boron arsenide still need to be tested.
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