The assessment of emerging transistor technologies is a challenging task. What can be done to help improve the reporting and benchmarking of devices?

Thermal management technology is essential in the development of electronic systems, and techniques that can deliver efficient cooling continue to evolve.

A reconfigurable integration technology based on stackable chips with embedded arrays of optoelectronic devices and memristive crossbars could be of use in edge intelligence applications.

Imagers that operate in the near-infrared region (wavelengths of 0.7–1.4 µm) are of use in applications such as material sorting, machine vision and autonomous driving. However, such imagers typically use the flip-chip method to connect infrared photodiodes with silicon-based readout integrated circuits, as the need for high-temperature processing and single-crystalline substrates prevents direct integration

The phase, frequency and amplitude of gigahertz acoustic waves can be electrically controlled in a lithium niobate waveguide at millikelvin temperatures.

Artificial intelligence applications have changed the landscape of computer design, driving a search for hardware architecture that can efficiently process large amounts of data. Three-dimensional heterogeneous integration with advanced packaging technologies could be used to improve data bandwidth among sensors, memory and processors. However, such systems are limited by a lack of hardware reconfigurability

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors could potentially replace silicon in future electronic devices. However, the low carrier mobility in 2D semiconductors at room temperature, caused by strong phonon scattering, remains a critical challenge. Here we show that lattice distortions can reduce electron–phonon scattering in 2D materials and thus improve the charge carrier mobility. We introduce lattice

Transistors based on two-dimensional semiconductors suffer from electrical instabilities because charges readily get trapped in the gate oxides. As charge trapping is sensitive to the energetic alignment of the channel Fermi level to the defect bands in the oxide, the number of electrically active traps can be reduced by tuning the channel Fermi level.

Acoustic waves at microwave frequencies are widely used in wireless communication and are potential information carriers in quantum applications. However, most acoustic devices are passive components, and the development of phononic integrated circuits is limited by the inability to control acoustic waves in a low-loss, scalable manner. Here we report the electrical control of gigahertz travelling

Solving computationally hard problems using conventional computing architectures is often slow and energetically inefficient. Quantum computing may help with these challenges, but it is still in the early stages of development. A quantum-inspired alternative is to build domain-specific architectures with classical hardware. Here we report a sparse Ising machine that achieves massive parallelism where

Electronic devices based on two-dimensional semiconductors suffer from limited electrical stability because charge carriers originating from the semiconductors interact with defects in the surrounding insulators. In field-effect transistors, the resulting trapped charges can lead to large hysteresis and device drifts, particularly when common amorphous gate oxides (such as silicon or hafnium dioxide)

A solid-state electronic switch based on an atomic sheet of molybdenum disulfide is demonstrated in the 6G communication band with very high speed data transmission.

Atomically thin two-dimensional materials—including transitional metal dichalcogenides and hexagonal boron nitride—can exhibit non-volatile resistive switching. This switching behaviour could be used to create analogue switches for use in high-frequency communication, but has so far been limited to frequencies relevant to the fifth generation of wireless communication technology. Here we show that

Methods to create van der Waals contacts between two-dimensional semiconductors and three-dimensional metals are helping to unleash the potential of two-dimensional devices.

Graphene can be used as a donor substrate to create van der Waals contacts between two-dimensional semiconductors and a variety of three-dimensional metal electrodes, including strongly adhering metals.

Metal–semiconductor junctions are essential components in electronic and optoelectronic devices. With two-dimensional semiconductors, conventional metal deposition via ion bombardment results in chemical disorder and Fermi-level pinning. Transfer printing techniques—in which metal electrodes are predeposited and transferred to create van der Waals junctions—have thus been developed, but the predeposition

Large-area, flexible proximity-sensing surfaces are useful in a range of applications including process control, work security and robotics. However, current systems typically require rigid and thick electronics, which limit how they can be used. Here we report a flexible large-area proximity-sensing surface fabricated using printed organic materials and incorporating analogue front-end electronics

Haptic interfaces can be used to add sensations of touch to virtual and augmented reality experiences. Soft, flexible devices that deliver spatiotemporal patterns of touch across the body, potentially with full-body coverage, are of particular interest for a range of applications in medicine, sports and gaming. Here we report a wireless haptic interface of this type, with the ability to display vibro-tactile

On-chip Floquet photonic topological insulators, which are based on switched-capacitor circulators, could be used to create hybrid electronic–photonic topological integrated circuits for emerging communication technologies.

Measurements reveal that the antiferromagnet ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) can generate an electric-field-induced spin current with a component of spin polarization perpendicular to the sample plane. This verifies theoretical predictions and provides a strategy for the future development of highly energy-efficient magnetic storage devices.

Symmetry plays a central role in determining the polarization of spin currents induced by electric fields. It also influences how these spin currents generate spin-transfer torques in magnetic devices. Here we show that an out-of-plane damping-like torque can be generated in ruthenium dioxide (RuO2)/permalloy devices when the Néel vector of the collinear antiferromagnet RuO2 is canted relative to the

A silicon chip fabricated in a standard semiconductor foundry demonstrates that coupled ring oscillators can solve optimization problems targeted by quantum computers, and are quicker, cheaper and more energy-efficient than digital solvers. The 1,968 oscillator integrated circuit consumes 0.042 W and finds a solution within 50 oscillation cycles.

Floquet topological insulators, which have an exotic topological order sustained by time-varying Hamiltonians, could be of use in a range of technologies, including wireless communications, radar and quantum information processing. However, demonstrations of photonic Floquet topological insulators have been limited to systems that emulate time with a spatial dimension, which preserves time-reversal

Electrification is critical to decarbonizing society, but managing increasing power densification in electrical systems will require the development of new thermal management technologies. One approach is to use monolithic-metal-based heat spreaders that reduce thermal resistance and temperature fluctuation in electronic devices. However, their electrical conductivity makes them challenging to implement

Charge-coupled devices are widely used imaging technologies. However, their speed is limited due to the complex readout process, which involves sequential charge transfer between wells, and their spectral bandwidth is limited due to the absorption limitations of silicon. Here we report graphene charge-injection photodetectors. The devices have a deep-depletion silicon well for charge integration, single-layer

Computational architectures that are optimized to solve non-deterministic polynomial-time hard or complete problems are of use in the development of machine learning, logistical planning and pathfinding. A range of quantum-, optical- and spintronic-based approaches have been explored for solving such combinatorial optimization problems, but they remain complicated to build and to scale. Here we report

Driven by their achievements in solar cells, metal halide perovskites are being used in a range of other devices — from light-emitting diodes to photodetectors to field-effect transistors — with increasing success.

Thin flakes of Cr5Te8, which exhibit a colossal anomalous Hall effect, can be synthesized using a phase-controlled chemical vapour deposition technique.

A van der Waals integration approach can be used to deposit single-crystal strontium titanate on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide and tungsten diselenide, creating high-performance n- and p-doped field-effect transistors.

Broadband convolutional processing is critical to high-precision image recognition and is of use in remote sensing and environmental monitoring. Implementing in-sensor broadband convolutional processing using conventional complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology is, however, challenging because broadband sensing and convolutional processing require the use of the same physical processes.

Two-dimensional materials that are intrinsically ferromagnetic are crucial for the development of compact spintronic devices. However, most non-layered 2D magnets with a strong ferromagnetic order are difficult to synthesize. Here we show that the flakes of trigonal and monoclinic Cr5Te8 can be grown via a chemical vapour deposition method. Using magneto-optical and magnetotransport measurements, we

Two-dimensional semiconductors can be used to build next-generation electronic devices with ultrascaled channel lengths. However, semiconductors need to be integrated with high-quality dielectrics—which are challenging to deposit. Here we show that single-crystal strontium titanate—a high-κ perovskite oxide—can be integrated with two-dimensional semiconductors using van der Waals forces. Strontium

Light-emitting diodes based on halide perovskites have undergone rapid development in recent years and can now offer external quantum efficiencies of over 23%. However, the practical application of such devices is still limited by a number of factors, including the poor efficiency of blue-emitting devices, difficulty in accessing emission wavelengths above 800 nm, a decrease in external quantum efficiency

High Schottky barrier heights at metal–semiconductor junctions due to Fermi-level pinning can degrade the performance of electronic devices and increase their energy consumption. Van der Waals contacts between metals and two-dimensional semiconductors without Fermi-level pinning are theoretically possible, but have not been achieved due to the presence of interactions such as interface defects and

Spin–orbit coupling can convert a charge current into a spin current, thereby generating a spin–orbit torque (SOT). Energy-efficient, commercially viable SOT technology requires field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization at low current. In heterostructures incorporating ferromagnets, the polarization of spin current consists, in general, of three vectors: \(( {{{{\hat{\mathrm z}}}} \times

Quantum computing has attracted attention owing to its potential to solve problems that are intractable with traditional computing technologies; however, a scalable scheme for producing millions of qubits remains elusive. A new effort demonstrates a milestone to achieving this by fabricating qubits in the same factory where state-of-the-art semiconductor chips are manufactured.

Quantum computers based on silicon could exploit the manufacturing techniques used to create conventional computer chips — providing a potential route to scaled-up quantum processors.

Full-scale quantum computers require the integration of millions of qubits, and the potential of using industrial semiconductor manufacturing to meet this need has driven the development of quantum computing in silicon quantum dots. However, fabrication has so far relied on electron-beam lithography and, with a few exceptions, conventional lift-off processes that suffer from low yield and poor uniformity

Incorporating sensing and therapeutic capabilities into everyday textiles could be a powerful approach in the development of personalized healthcare. The creation of such smart textiles has been driven by the fabrication of various miniaturized platform technologies, and has led to the construction of compact, autonomous and interconnected functional textiles. Here we review the development of smart

Topological phononic crystals can manipulate elastic waves that propagate in solids without being backscattered, and could be used to develop integrated acousto-electronic systems for classical and quantum information processing. However, acoustic topological metamaterials have been mainly limited to macroscale systems that operate at low (kilohertz to megahertz) frequencies. Here we report a topological

Clock distribution is central to digital technology and influences circuit performance, interconnect overhead and efficiency. However, ensuring reliable clock distribution across large digital systems with low skew and jitter—and in the presence of device variations and thermal noise—is a design challenge. Here we report a superconducting metamaterial resonant clock network that can provide energy-efficient