University of Illinois researchers developing coal-based semiconductor [Video]

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Most electronic devices like smartphones and laptops are built with semiconductors inside. But U of I is working with material scientists around the world to build them with a more common material that would be able to shrink the semiconductors to allow for smaller devices.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign along with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company are using a new material derived from coal. The material allows for a for an even flatter semiconductor.

“Coal is usually thought of as something bulky and dirty, but the processing techniques we’ve developed can transform it into high-purity materials just a couple of atoms thick,” said Qing Cao, a U of I materials science & engineering professor and a co-lead of the collaboration.

U of I researchers design material that reacts to temperature

Semiconductors are usually …