Exclusive
How Hungary’s richest man funneled millions into Orbán’s propaganda machine How Hungary’s richest man funneled millions into Orbán’s propaganda machine How Real Is the US Withdrawal from the Middle East? How Real Is the US Withdrawal from the Middle East? From Iran to China: An Emerging Trans-Central Asian Corridor From Iran to China: An Emerging Trans-Central Asian Corridor
Current Affairs

Semiconductor leap: China looks to next-gen ‘2D chip’ with 1,000-fold growth speed

Chinese scientists say they have developed a wafer-scale 2D semiconductor growth method with 1,000 times faster growth, paving the way for industry advances.
The surging demand…

By Samantha Johnson / April 12, 2026
Chinese scientists say they have developed a wafer-scale 2D semiconductor growth method with 1,000 times faster growth, paving the way for industry advances.
The surging demand for high‑performance, low‑power chips driven by AI and large-language models has intensified the search for next‑generation semiconductor technologies.

Moore’s Law predicted a doubling of semiconductor capacity every two years but as chip dimensions continue to shrink, physical limitations make further performance scaling increasingly difficult.

01:46

AI rush turns everyday data storage into ‘digital gold’ for Hong Kong consumers

AI rush turns everyday data storage into ‘digital gold’ for Hong Kong consumers

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have emerged as a leading candidate for post‑Moore chip materials, as they could allow continued transistor scaling.

Advertisement

In a 2D semiconductor, its ability to conduct electricity can be altered by adding tiny amounts of other elements, a process called doping, which can result in n-type (negative) and p-type (positive) materials.

While many n‑type 2D semiconductors, such as molybdenum disulphide and molybdenum diselenide exist, high‑performance and stable p‑type ones are rare.

Advertisement

“Transistors in a chip require both n‑type and p‑type materials to work in pairs. The lack of high‑performance p‑type materials has become a critical bottleneck for the development of sub‑5‑nm node 2D semiconductors, and it is also a fiercely contested scientific and technological frontier,” said Zhu Mengjian from the National University of Defence Technology in a report by Science and Technology Daily on Thursday.

Don't Miss: