Five reasons Phosphorene may a new wonder material

A material that never has heard of could be paving the the-a-to-a new electronic revolution.

by KRISTIN ROBERTS

Researchers from universities on and Canada working at the national MagLab is exploring the exciting properties of Phosphorene with recent discoveries at the center of new Publications-a Nature Nanotechnology article in May and a N Ature Communications article out this month.

But what's phosphorene and why was scientists so interested in it all of a sudden?

1. It ' s elemental, Dear Watson

You are thinking that this new wonder material sounds a lot like the basic element of you remember from the periodic table -phosphorus. And you ' d be correct. However, Phosphorene is part of a materials revolution the all started in 2004 when scientists realized so you could "E Xfoliate, "or peel off, layers of certain materials (like carbon) to the create altogether new behavior in materials Just a few-or even one single-layer thick (like graphene).

Nearly years (and one Nobel Prize) Later, scientists is leaping back to the periodic table to find new peel-able mater IALs that might exhibit interesting behaviors and offer new paths to technologies of the future.

Enter Black phosphorus.

When exfoliated to a single atomic layer, black phosphorus becomes phosphorene, and with the name change and new, Slimme R figure comes a number of remarkable properties then actually make this now two-dimensional material a good candidate for Next-generation Electronics.

2. Its band gap was "just right"

Semiconductors is used to make all of the electronic gadgets in your day-to-day life, including microprocessors and trans Istors. While most modern devices is silicon-based, the exploration of Single-layer, so-called "-ene" materials may offer new ALT Ernatives.

Black phosphorus, Phosphorene ' s base material, is a natural semiconductor while graphene, on the other hand, acts more lik e a metal. Semiconductors conduct electrical current under certain conditions, and not others. Semiconductors need a band gap, which essentially allows the conducting properties of the material to be SWITC Hed on and off.

See, band gaps is kind of fussy, like goldilocks:if conditions aren ' t ' just right, ' they won ' t work. Some materials (like glass) has too much of a band gap and can never be switched on (too cold), while others (like Graphe NE) has no band gap at all and can ' t turn off (too hot). A few materials, like the widely used silicon and now phosphorene, hits that perfect ' just right ' spot.

"Scientists is exploring how to generate a band gap in graphene to make it work like a semiconductor," explains Tim Murph Y, Director of the DC Field Facility at the MagLab, where scientists work to understand materials. Scientists has been exploring both graphene and phosphorene at this facility to explore the behavior of the materials in High Magnetic fields.

"The trick with graphene," Murphy added, "are to create a band gap while also managing to keep all of the other exciting PR Operties in the material so scientists like. "

In experiments conducted at the MagLab, scientists note this black phosphorus has a band gap of 0.3 electron volts (eV). They expect it to increase to 2eV as the crystal was thinned into phosphorene, bringing it closer to Silicon ' s band gap of 1.1 EV.

3. It feels the need for speedLike Maverick and Goose from the movie "Top Gun", "Phosphorene feels the need for speed." As a material, phosphorene have high electron mobility, meaning that electrons move rapidly through it. It also means that ones and zeros move faster through an integrated circuit. Why are this important? Because Nobody likes slow computers ...

But what good is the speed if it can ' t be channeled?

"Transistors work more efficiently if electrons move in only the dimensions," says Thomas Szkopek, an associate Professo R in McGill's Department of electrical and computer Engineering, a user at the MagLab, and leads author of the Nature Commu Nications article.

Szkopek's another group from China found that (unlike Maverick and Goose, who zoomed around Three-dimen Sional space) The electrons in black phosphorus aren ' t just moving quickly, they is moving in a two-dimensional space, Ki nd of like a hockey puck.

"When electrons is channeled into a flat plane like this, coupled with the high mobility, it helps them move faster throu GH the material, "explains Murphy.

4. It works even when it's put on a little weight

Unlike graphene, which have to being exfoliated down to just a few layers or less to show interesting two-dimensional electric Al Properties, black phosphorus doesn ' t has to is in it skinny jeans to perform.

In the newest, scientists from McGill University and universitéde Montréal examined electrons moving in a black Phosphorus transistor in high magnetic fields. They noticed that the electrons would continue to move in both dimensions even in multilayer samples of black phosphorus up To-nanometers thick (Just to was clear, nanometers is still very small. As a comparison, a human hair measures about 80,000 nanometers).

This discovery could ultimately leads to more energy-efficient transistors. But it also means that operational black phosphorus could being created both more easily and cheaply, which might just be the Most important point yet.

5. It sees the light

The word "phosphorus" comes from the Greek name meaning "Light-bringer," so it's no surprise that this material Demonstrat Es unique optical properties.

The University of Minnesota showed that black phosphorus can detect light even more successfully than German Ium, which is currently considered the best material for on-chip photodetection.

Work in the MagLab ' s to Tesla Magnet also demonstrated that black phosphorus could interact strongly with an applied SOURC E of light covering a spectrum this spans the far-infrared to the red, making the material potentially important for optoe Lectronic applications in communication and solar energy harvesting.

These cool properties, might be wondering how long until Phosphorene was part of your next Microprocesso R.

While Phosphorene are proving to be a unique and exciting material, it also have its challenges. One big issue is the ability to produce it in large quantities. First, black phosphorus have to being made by applying heat under very and pressure to white phosphorus. Then, as we discussed earlier, you had to exfoliate down to the one-atom thick phosphorene. But scientists is trying to tackle this problem, too. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin is exploring a new method to create black phosphorus involving a liquid solvent a nd acoustic sound waves.

So if this isn ' t The wonder material, is there another new wondrous material with its own unique and exciting pro Perties right around the corner?

Ryan Baumbach, a materials scientist at the MagLab, speculates that researchers would continue exploring elements in this s Ame region of the periodic table to find the next single layer "-ene" material. Stanene, which are the single layer of tins, is already starting to surface in the papers.

But Murphy reminds us what's really important here: "Scientists is going back to the periodic table with fresh eyes and L Ooking for new ideas. "

And let's face it, that's what's makes science the wonder in and of itself.

Link:https://nationalmaglab.org/news-events/feature-stories/phosphorene-wonder-material

Five reasons Phosphorene may a new wonder material