Using exciton pairs to enable next-gen technology
Electrical engineers from the Australian National University (ANU) have demonstrated how to create exciton pairs in a new type of semiconductor structure; their research could pave the way for next-generation technologies required for high-speed computing, information processing and data communication, and lay the foundations for a new generation of smartphones and computers that are fast but also consume less energy than current devices.
The new technology was developed by sandwiching together two sheets of bendable monolayer semiconductors and allows interlayer excitons to bind together and form pairs. The research is published in Nature. An interlayer exciton is a quasiparticle made by a negatively charged electron and a positively charged ‘hole’ that are sitting in two different layers. Interlayer excitons form when light is absorbed in a bilayer semiconductor.
“Interlayer exciton pairs were predicted by theory decades ago, but we are the first to observe them in experiment,” said lead author Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu.
The discovery could help the researchers achieve a process known as superfluidity — a condition where electrical currents can travel without any loss of energy. PhD researcher Xueqian Sun described superfluidity as a “super highway” that allows excitons to travel at fast speeds, similar to cars travelling on a freeway.
“The current generation of semiconductor technology used in our smartphones and laptops limits the speed that excitons can travel, stopping them from reaching their full potential. A good way to visualise this is to think of a car that is bumper to bumper on a highway full of traffic. A car can only travel so fast in these conditions, and the same is true for excitons,” said Sun, who is the first author of the paper.
Lu said that the small, lightweight and versatile nature of this new semiconductor structure, which is not visible to the naked eye, means it can be incorporated into a range of miniature technologies, with promising implications for the space sector, quantum lasers and other quantum light sources. The researchers’ next challenge is to figure out a way to make the exciton super highway function at room temperature — an essential next step to integrating the technology into smart devices.
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