Molybdenite As an Alternative To Silicon 169
An anonymous reader writes "Molybdenite (MoS2) can be used to make transistors that consume 100,000 times less energy in standby state. This mineral, which is abundant in nature, is often used as an element in steel alloys or as an additive in lubricants. Research carried out in Switzerland at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has revealed that is a very effective semiconductor. Molybdenite's 1.8 electron-volt gap is ideal for transistors and gives it an advantage over graphene (which does not have a gap)."
Re:Molykote? (Score:4, Informative)
Isn't this just Moly disulphide, the lubricant in Molykote? http://www.dowcorning.com/content/molykote/anniversary.aspx?bhcp=1 [dowcorning.com]
Possibly, from the article:
This mineral, which is abundant in nature, is often used as an element in steel alloys or as an additive in lubricants. But it had not yet been extensively studied for use in electronics.
That is this material has been known about for quite some time, however it's applications to electronics are only now being investigated, and he initial results appear to be quite favourable.
Abundant ... hello? (Score:5, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Let me just say (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Abundant ... hello? (Score:4, Informative)
That table you linked to says the annual production of molybdenum is 80 kilotonnes, which is not exactly rare.
It also says that the annual production of electronics-grade silicon is only 5 kilotonnes, so our needs aren't going to be a problem.
Re:reduction in subthreshold leakage current (Score:4, Informative)
In insulators, there are no energy states that involve conductive electrons. In conductors, all of the energy states involve conductive electrons. In semiconductors, electrons normally reside in a nonconductive state but you can inject some energy and the electrons will be raised to a conductive state. The amount of energy required to raise the electrons to a conductive state is that semiconductor's gap.