Researchers created a novel material that could lead to superfast computers that perform calculations at impressive speeds without overheating.
The material is a metal layer atop a silicon semiconductor, dubbed a "topological insulator," the University of Utah reported. The material behaves like an insulator on the inside while conducting electricity on the outside; the innovation could help lead to the long-time-coming development of quantum computers.
Topological insulators were first discovered about 10 years ago, but until now researchers were not able to create with a large enough energy gap to effectively speed up the computers. An energy gap is the "amount of energy it takes for electrons to conduct electricity in a given material," the university reported. A large gap allows electricity to be conducted on a material's surface while the device remains at room temperature and stable.
The researchers found bismuth metal deposited on silicon could help achieve a stable large-gap topological insulator, and at a low cost.
"We can put it on silicon so it can be married or combined with the existing semiconductor technology," said study leader and University of Utah materials science and engineering professor Feng Liu. "This is very important. It makes it more experimentally feasible and practically realistic."
The bismuth layer is "atomically bonded but electrically isolated" from the silicon layer, creating an effectively large energy gap.
"It has the largest energy gap that was ever predicted. It makes room-temperature applications a possibility for topological insulator-based devices or computers," Liu said.
Quantum computers have not yet be been achieved. These devices would run on tiny particles of light and matter that can be in two places at once through the principle of quantum mechanics. These "computers of the future" could be billions of times faster than modern day devices; their creation could have important implications in fields such as "big data centers, security systems and encryption."
The findings were published Sept. 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
