(Press-News.org) Contact information: Andy Freeberg
afreeberg@slac.stanford.edu
650-926-4359
DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Will 2-D tin be the next super material?
Theorists predict new single-layer material could go beyond graphene, conducting electricity with 100 percent efficiency at room temperature
A single layer of tin atoms could be the world's first material to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency at the temperatures that computer chips operate, according to a team of theoretical physicists led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University.
Researchers call the new material "stanene," combining the Latin name for tin (stannum) with the suffix used in graphene, another single-layer material whose novel electrical properties hold promise for a wide range of applications.
"Stanene could increase the speed and lower the power needs of future generations of computer chips, if our prediction is confirmed by experiments that are underway in several laboratories around the world," said the team leader, Shoucheng Zhang, a physics professor at Stanford and the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES), a joint institute with SLAC. The team's work was published recently in Physical Review Letters.
The Path to Stanene
For the past decade, Zhang and colleagues have been calculating and predicting the electronic properties of a special class of materials known as topological insulators, which conduct electricity only on their outside edges or surfaces and not through their interiors. When topological insulators are just one atom thick, their edges conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency. These unusual properties result from complex interactions between the electrons and nuclei of heavy atoms in the materials.
"The magic of topological insulators is that by their very nature, they force electrons to move in defined lanes without any speed limit, like the German autobahn," Zhang said. "As long as they're on the freeway – the edges or surfaces – the electrons will travel without resistance."
In 2006 and 2009, Zhang's group predicted that mercury telluride and several combinations of bismuth, antimony, selenium and tellurium should be topological insulators, and they were soon proven right in experiments performed by others. But none of those materials is a perfect conductor of electricity at room temperature, limiting their potential for commercial applications.
Earlier this year, visiting scientist Yong Xu, who is now at Tsinghua University in Beijing, collaborated with Zhang's group to consider the properties of a single layer of pure tin.
"We knew we should be looking at elements in the lower-right portion of the periodic table," Xu said. "All previous topological insulators have involved the heavy and electron-rich elements located there."
Their calculations indicated that a single layer of tin would be a topological insulator at and above room temperature, and that adding fluorine atoms to the tin would extend its operating range to at least 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit).
Ultimately a Substitute for Silicon?
Zhang said the first application for this stanene-fluorine combination could be in wiring that connects the many sections of a microprocessor, allowing electrons to flow as freely as cars on a highway. Traffic congestion would still occur at on- and off-ramps made of conventional conductors, he said. But stanene wiring should significantly reduce the power consumption and heat production of microprocessors.
Manufacturing challenges include ensuring that only a single layer of tin is deposited and keeping that single layer intact during high-temperature chip-making processes.
"Eventually, we can imagine stanene being used for many more circuit structures, including replacing silicon in the hearts of transistors," Zhang said. "Someday we might even call this area Tin Valley rather than Silicon Valley."
INFORMATION:
Additional contributors included researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany. The research was supported by the Mesodynamic Architectures program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit http://www.slac.stanford.edu.
The Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) is a joint institute of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University. SIMES studies the nature, properties and synthesis of complex and novel materials in the effort to create clean, renewable energy technologies. For more information, please visit simes.slac.stanford.edu.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Citation: Yong Xu et al., Physical Review Letters, 27 Sept 2013 (10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.136804)
Will 2-D tin be the next super material?
Theorists predict new single-layer material could go beyond graphene, conducting electricity with 100 percent efficiency at room temperature
2013-11-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Kessler Foundation study provides first Class 1 evidence for cognitive rehabilitation in MS
2013-11-22
Kessler Foundation study provides first Class 1 evidence for cognitive rehabilitation in MS
MEMREHAB Trial shows a significant effect for cognitive rehabilitation in MS that lasts 6 months
WEST ORANGE, NJ November 21, 2013. Kessler Foundation researchers ...
NASA sees Tropical Storm Helen affecting southeastern India
2013-11-22
NASA sees Tropical Storm Helen affecting southeastern India
NASA's Aqua satellite captured visible and infrared imagery of slow-moving Tropical Storm Helen as it was spreading its western clouds over parts of southeastern India on November 21.
On Nov. 21 at 07:55 ...
NASA catches Melissa's fickle life as a tropical storm
2013-11-22
NASA catches Melissa's fickle life as a tropical storm
What can happen when graphene meets a semiconductor
2013-11-22
What can happen when graphene meets a semiconductor
UWM study shows another feature that affects electron transport in graphene
For all the promise of graphene as a material for next-generation electronics and quantum computing, scientists still don't know ...
Searching for cosmic accelerators via IceCube
2013-11-22
Searching for cosmic accelerators via IceCube
Berkeley Lab researchers part of an international hunt
In our universe there are particle accelerators 40 million times more powerful than the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Scientists don't know what ...
Does obesity reshape our sense of taste?
2013-11-22
Does obesity reshape our sense of taste?
In a new study, mice who were overweight had fewer taste cells capable of detecting sweetness
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Obesity may alter the way we taste at the most fundamental level: by changing how our tongues react to different ...
A hallmark for the development of testicular tumors found in the aberrant regulation of small non-coding RNA
2013-11-22
A hallmark for the development of testicular tumors found in the aberrant regulation of small non-coding RNA
Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) in Barcelona, Spain, have studied the role of a peculiar class of small non-coding RNAs that ...
Minority parents fear for kids online
2013-11-22
Minority parents fear for kids online
Asian, Hispanic, black parents more concerned than whites about online safety issues
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Nearly all parents agree -- when their children go online, stranger danger is their biggest safety concern, followed closely ...
Heavy drinking is bad for marriage if 1 spouse drinks, but not both
2013-11-22
Heavy drinking is bad for marriage if 1 spouse drinks, but not both
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Do drinking and marriage mix? That depends on who's doing the drinking — and how much — according to a recent study by the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions ...
Research paves path for hybrid nano-materials that could replace human tissue or today's pills
2013-11-22
Research paves path for hybrid nano-materials that could replace human tissue or today's pills
Brooklyn, New York—A team of researchers has uncovered critical information that could help scientists understand how protein polymers interact ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training
Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease
First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab
Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained
Less intensive works best for agricultural soil
Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation
Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
[Press-News.org] Will 2-D tin be the next super material?Theorists predict new single-layer material could go beyond graphene, conducting electricity with 100 percent efficiency at room temperature