Silicon Challenger: New Chip Prototype may Lead to Thinner, Bendable Phones

By Karla Robinson
December 7, 2011

A new material, molybdenum disulphide or molybdenite, may challenge silicon as the leading chip-making material for the “next generation of smaller, more efficient mobile devices.”
Scientists at the Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures developed the chip prototype. “This naturally occurring material can be worked within layers only three atoms thick, meaning it may be used to make chips three times smaller than the current standard,” reports Mobiledia.
“Advances in chip technology are about more than device size, however,” the article notes. “Mobile processors are called upon to do more functions…and the chip technology that drives them must advance as well.”
In this way, molybdenite would allow for high powered processors that take up less space, which would enable mobile processors to tackle larger amounts of data.
“Molybdenite also has mechanical properties that may allow it to be made into flexible sheets of chips, which may be used in mobile devices or computers that roll up, fold or stick to the skin,” indicates the article.

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