2D Tin Could Be The Next Supermaterial And A Substitute For Silicon

2D Tin Could Be The Next Supermaterial And A Substitute For Silicon

A single layer of tin -- an element familiar as the coating for tin cans -- 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 led by researchers from the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University. If used as wiring in computer chips, the material, called "stanene," could increase the speed and lower the power needs of future generations of computers.

If proven true, this could be a real game changer for computer technology. Imagine tablets that last a week on a single charge. Laptops that operate days without plugging in. Imagine thinner, lighter devices that no longer need bulky heat sinks/pipes to reduce overall heat.

Finally, the possibility of a room temperature (and up to 100 Celsius) super conductor. If the mass production of such a material became available, the possibilities in electronics would be endless.

reply to post by BomSquad


Sounds like an interesting idea. Now, it should be even more interesting to see how they will get a uniform single layer of tin atoms coupled with fluoride atoms onto a substrate, any kind of deposition will be tricky. We were having trouble with 100 nanometers in dielectric films, what this group is talking about is an angstrom thick layer or at least three orders of magnitude smaller that what we were dealing with experimentally with STEMs. I hope they can do ;-)

ETA: STEM = Scanning Tunneling Electron Microscope

Cheers - Dave

I'm gonna guess that 2D Gold, Platinum, Silver, Copper and Aluminum will be awesome too!

It's gonna be like magic!

reply to post by BomSquad


GPS, 3G, WiFi, Screen, Vibrate... these things take more power than the processing and won't be affected by more efficient materials.

I underclock my tablet unless I'm using it. Battery life is reasonably efficient unless I have the extras turned on, which, with tablets, is pretty much all the time, unless you're not using it.

But I can see it allowing much faster processing. Less heat, less wasted power.

I wonder how long before we see something come of it.. and if I'll ever be able to afford the newest chips.. lol. I almost got an i5 the other day. decided to cash in my bitcoins instead. on well.

when you need cash, you need it more than doodads.

reply to post by BomSquad


And more and more mining of the Amazon to get to the tin required I wonder.

MadMax9
reply to post by BomSquad

 

And more and more mining of the Amazon to get to the tin required I wonder.

Or revive the tin economy of Cornwall, England...they could do with this taking off, afaik, they still have loads of tin left to mine in the area.

According to Wikipedia, the following list is where tin is mined, most first, least last.
china
Malaysia
Peru
Indonesia
Brazil
Bolivia
Russia
Thailand
Australia.
No mention of the amazon.

reply to post by pikestaff


Have to be mindfull that list is where tin is currently mined...iow, these are not the only places that have deposits that could be mined.

pikestaff
According to Wikipedia, the following list is where tin is mined, most first, least last.
china
Malaysia
Peru
Indonesia
Brazil
Bolivia
Russia
Thailand
Australia.
No mention of the amazon.

No offense, but the Amazon is in Brazil...number 5 on your list...

It's not replacing silicon. It's replacing metallization layers, which are often tin or aluminum. But at the line sizes they use, the resistance is so high (relatively speaking) that you have a lot of R-C time delays charging the gates and line capacitance. A superconductor would increase the speed.

However, not only do you have to keep the line superconducting at temp, you will probably get into migration and diffusion problems with a 2D small width line at temp.

This technology will be great.

This could solve BGA(ball graph array) problems, PS5 will have this tech if it does solve it and the next Xbox what ever they will call it I don't know, they kinda muddled it up.

BGA chips on PCB BGA pads are prone to failure after overheating, after the heat becomes to much and liquefies the solder spheres under the BGA chip. After awhile time over time there is usually 1 - 10est connections from the BGA not making contact with PCB BGA pads, there for making a device not function as intended switching it into error mode.

amraks
This technology will be great.

This could solve BGA(ball graph array) problems, PS5 will have this tech if it does solve it and the next Xbox what ever they will call it I don't know, they kinda muddled it up.

BGA chips on PCB BGA pads are prone to failure after overheating, after the heat becomes to much and liquefies the solder spheres under the BGA chip. After awhile time over time there is usually 1 - 10est connections from the BGA not making contact with PCB BGA pads, there for making a device not function as intended switching it into error mode.

Not at all.

First off, it's ball grid array. Second, when you reflow the thing onto the board to begin with, you intentionally melt the balls so that they form a solder joint under there. The chip cannot possibly become hot enough in normal operation (short of catastrophic failure) to reflow the balls again.

Heat stress can cause badly reflowed BGA balls to crack loose if you've got really crappy joints and/or badly matched TCA between the chip's substrate and the PCB. But not if it's done right.

Finally, this technology won't do squat for chip mounting technology anyway. The 2D tin technique is applicable to interconnections on the silicon itself. Not the packaging and external connections.

eta: we use BGA and QFN on every military and aerospace design we do. It holds up to insane temp ranges and G forces if done right.

BomSquad

pikestaff
According to Wikipedia, the following list is where tin is mined, most first, least last.
china
Malaysia
Peru
Indonesia
Brazil
Bolivia
Russia
Thailand
Australia.
No mention of the amazon.

No offense, but the Amazon is in Brazil...number 5 on your list...

I believe parts of the Amazon are also in Peru and Bolivia. #3 and 6.

reply to post by BomSquad


Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity

It seems to me that computer chips made using tin would not have a very long operational life. But then, it may not be an issue if the chips become obsolete before whiskering renders them unusable.

Tin Whiskers

So, it would be OK for the latest ipad, but not for something expected to last for a while with minimal repair, like a satelite.

reply to post by VictorVonDoom


I wonder if the tin whiskers would form from a 1 atom thick layer as they are describing in the original article.
I suppose only experimentation would answer that question...

I've never seen tin whisker formation INSIDE a part, it's a PCB level issue. And it is definitely an issue there since ROHS.

Bedlam
I've never seen tin whisker formation INSIDE a part, it's a PCB level issue. And it is definitely an issue there since ROHS.

Also at low temp - "tin pest" will be a problem to be concerned with.

reply to post by edmc^2


One layer of atoms thick, you're going to have spectacularly bad issues with diffusion and thermal cracking.

Bedlam
reply to post by edmc^2

 

One layer of atoms thick, you're going to have spectacularly bad issues with diffusion and thermal cracking.

exactly - imagine 20,000 feet in the air on a Boeing 777 where components are exposed to thermal shocks?

don't wanna be in your seat when that happens.