According to the team, it has only recently been possible to produce digital components using a few 2D material based transistors. However, a microprocessor requires more complex circuits to interact flawlessly.
Dr Thomas Mueller and his team have created a 1bit microprocessor consisting of 115 transistors with a surface area of 0.6mm2 that can run simple programs. “Although, this seems modest when compared to the industry standards based on silicon, this is still a major breakthrough,” said researcher Stefan Wachter. “Now we have a proof of concept, in principle there is no reason that further developments can’t be made.” Wachter added that it was not just the choice of material that resulted in the success of the research project. “We also gave careful consideration to the dimensions of the individual transistors.”
The research team believes that methods could open up new fields of application for this technology over the next few years, including medical sensors and flexible displays, where 2D materials are more suitable than silicon because of their greater mechanical flexibility.