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Computer processors built from 2D materials

These prototype processors made from atomically thin materials offer a glimpse into a post-silicon-transistor future, but scaling challenges remain.
By
  1. Michael Waltl

    1. Michael Waltl is at the Institute for Microelectronics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, 1040, Austria.

  2. Tibor Grasser

    1. Tibor Grasser is at the Institute for Microelectronics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, 1040, Austria.

For decades, silicon transistors have been the cornerstone of electronics. Innovations in materials and design have driven the development of smaller and more efficient transistors, but when the size of silicon-device components becomes smaller than about 10 nanometres, the transistor performance degrades. Alternative materials might, therefore, be needed to miniaturize electronics down to the nanoscale1. 2D materials, which are sheet-like solids just a few atom layers thick, are promising contenders that could complement or even replace silicon2. Writing in Nature, Ghosh et al.3 and Ao et al.4 present the first computer processors made from thousands of atomically thin 2D transistors integrated onto single chips.

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Nature 642, 312-313 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01453-w

References

  1. Ren, W. et al. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2503.22476 (2025).

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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