Tech
Growing ultrathin semiconductors directly on electronics could eliminate a fragile manufacturing step
A team of materials scientists at Rice University has developed a new way to grow ultrathin semiconductors directly onto electronic components.
The method, described in a study published in ACS Applied Electronic Materials, could help streamline the integration of two-dimensional materials into next-generation electronics, neuromorphic computing and other technologies demanding ultrathin high-speed semiconductors.
The researchers used chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to grow tungsten diselenide, a 2D semiconductor, directly onto patterned gold electrodes. They next demonstrated the approach by building a functional, proof-of-concept transistor. Unlike conventional techniques that require transferring fragile 2D films from one surface to another, the Rice team’s method eliminates the transfer process entirely.
“This is the first demonstration of a transfer-free method to grow 2D devices,” said Sathvik Ajay Iyengar, a doctoral student at Rice and a first author on the study along with Rice doctoral alumnus Lucas Sassi. “This is a solid step toward reducing processing temperatures and making a transfer-free, 2D semiconductor-integration process possible.”
The discovery began with an unexpected observation during a routine experiment.
“We received a sample from a collaborator that had gold markers patterned on it,” Sassi said. “During CVD growth, the 2D material unexpectedly formed predominantly on the gold surface. This surprising result sparked the idea that by deliberately patterning metal contacts, we might be able to guide the growth of 2D semiconductors directly across them.”
Semiconductors are foundational to modern computing, and as the industry races toward smaller, faster and more efficient components, integrating higher-performance, atomically thin materials like tungsten diselenide is a growing priority.
Conventional device fabrication requires growing the 2D semiconductor separately, usually at very high temperatures, then transferring it using a series of steps. While 2D materials promise to outperform silicon in certain metrics, turning their lab-scale promise into industry-relevant applications has proven difficult—in large part due to the fragility of the materials during the transfer process.
“The transfer process can degrade the material and damage its performance,” said Iyengar, who is part of Pulickel Ajayan’s research group at Rice.
The Rice team optimized the precursor materials to lower the synthesis temperature of the 2D semiconductor and showed that it grows in a controlled, directional manner.
“Understanding how these 2D semiconductors interact with metals, especially when grown in situ, is really valuable for future device fabrication and scalability,” said Ajayan, Rice’s Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering and professor of materials science and nanoengineering.
Using advanced imaging and chemical analysis tools, the team confirmed the method preserves the integrity of the metal contacts, which are vulnerable to damage at high temperatures.
“A lot of our work in this project was focused on proving that the materials system is still intact,” Iyengar said. “We are well-equipped here at Rice to study the chemistry that goes on in this process to a very fine degree. Seeing what happens at the interface between these materials was a great motivator for the research.”
The success of the method lies in the strong interaction between the metal and the 2D material during growth, Sassi noted.
“The absence of reliable, transfer-free methods for growing 2D semiconductors has been a major barrier to their integration into practical electronics,” he said. “This work could unlock new opportunities for using atomically thin materials in next-generation transistors, solar cells and other electronic technologies.”
In addition to challenges with the fabrication process, another key hurdle in 2D semiconductor design is electrical contacts’ quality, which entails not just low energy barriers but also stable and enduring performance, scalability and compatibility with a wide range of materials.
“An in-situ growth approach allows us to combine several strategies for achieving improved contact quality simultaneously,” said Anand Puthirath, a co-corresponding author of the study and a former research scientist at Rice.
The project was sparked by a question raised during a U.S.-India research initiative: Could a semiconductor fabrication process for 2D materials be developed on a limited budget?
“This started through our collaboration with partners in India,” said Iyengar, who is a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and an inaugural recipient of the Quad Fellowship, a program launched by the governments of the U.S., India, Australia and Japan to support early career scientists in exploring how science, policy and diplomacy intersect on the global stage. “It showed how international partnerships can help identify practical constraints and inspire new approaches that work across global research environments.”
Together with a couple of his peers in the Quad Fellowship cohort, Iyengar co-authored an article advocating for “the need for expertise at the intersection of STEM and diplomacy.”
“Greater engagement between scientists and policymakers is critical to ensure that scientific advancements translate into actionable policies that benefit society as a whole,” Iyengar said. “Materials science is one of the areas of research where international collaboration could prove invaluable, especially given constraints such as the limited supply of critical minerals and supply chain disruptions.”
More information:
Lucas M. Sassi et al, Mechanistic Understanding and Demonstration of Direct Chemical Vapor Deposition of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Across Metal Contacts, ACS Applied Electronic Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.5c00828
Citation:
Growing ultrathin semiconductors directly on electronics could eliminate a fragile manufacturing step (2025, August 20)
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Today, Apple announced its new budget MacBook. At $599, it looks seriously impressive. While I haven’t tested its performance, battery life, or display just yet, it may end up being hard to beat at that price based on some of the specs alone.
But that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t there. I want to recommend a couple of Windows laptops deals that offer various advantages over the MacBook Neo, showing where the Neo has both strengths and weaknesses.
First, check out this Asus Vivobook 14, a laptop I’ve been happy to recommend as a budget computer for the past year. In many ways, this is the Windows version of a laptop like the MacBook Neo. It uses a highly-efficient ARM chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X, meaning it gets great battery life and performs admirably in daily tasks. It’s not quite as thin or light as the MacBook Neo, but it’s fairly portable for a laptop at this price.
Unlike the MacBook Neo, the Vivobook 14 comes with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. That’s twice what you get in the MacBook Neo’s starting configuration. Right now, this configuration of the Vivobook 14 is on sale for $539. That’s a killer deal for those specs. It even comes with a healthier mix of ports, including HDMI, two USB-A, one USB-C, and a headphone jack. That also means it can support two external displays unlike the MacBook Neo, which can only handle just one.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not at all saying the Vivobook 14 is a slam dunk over the MacBook Neo. Based on specs alone, I know the Vivobook 14 is a serious step down when it comes to the display. It’s less sharp, stretched across a larger screen, and the color performance isn’t so good. The Vivobook 14 maxes out at 280 nits, whereas Apple says the MacBook Neo can go all the way up to 500 nits. I have a hunch that the MacBook Neo will deliver a much better display in just about every regard.
There’s also the touchpad. It’s a little clunky to use, which is typical of budget Windows laptops. This is just a guess—but the touchpad on the MacBook Neo will likely feel smoother. It’s a mechanical trackpad (unlike the MacBook Air’s haptic feedback trackpad), but Apple has almost never made a bad trackpad.
If you’re not convinced by the Asus Vivobook 14, I’d also recommend the HP OmniBook 5, which is currently on sale for $500 and uses the same Snapdragon X chip. While it only has 256 GB of storage, it has a much better screen than the Vivobook 14, using an OLED display. It’s not any brighter than the Vivobook 14, but it gives you far better color performance and contrast. It’s also just 0.50 inches thick, matching the MacBook Neo exactly in portability.
Other Good USB Hubs to Consider
Ugreen Revodok Pro 211 Docking Station for $64: Most laptop docking stations are bulky gadgets that often require a power source, but this one from Ugreen straddles the line between dock and hub. It has a small, braided cable running to a relatively large aluminum block. It’s a bit hefty but still compact, and it packs a lot of extra power. It has three USB ports (one USB-C and two USB-A) that each reached up to 900 MB/s of data-transfer speeds in my testing. That was enough to move large amounts of 4K video footage in minutes. The only problem is that using dual monitors on a Mac is limited to only mirroring.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Hyper HyperDrive Next Dual 4K Video Dock for $150: This one also straddles the line between dock and USB hub. Many mobile docks lack proper Mac support, only allowing for mirroring instead of full extension. The HyperDrive Next Dual 4K fixes that problem, though, making it a great option for MacBooks (though it won’t magically give an old MacBook Air dual-monitor support). Unfortunately, you’ll be paying handsomely for that capability, as this one is more expensive than the other options. The other problem is that although this dock has two HDMI ports that can support 4K, though only one will be at 60 Hz and the other will be stuck at 30 Hz. So, if you plan to use it with multiple displays, you’ll need to drop the resolution 1440p or 1080p on one of them. I also tested this Targus model, which is made by the same company, which gets you two 4K displays at 60 Hz but not on Mac.
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Anker USB-C Hub 5-in-1 for $20: This Anker USB hub is the one I carry in my camera bag everywhere. It plugs into the USB-C port on your laptop and provides every connection you’d need to offload photos or videos from camera gear. In our testing, the USB 3.0 ports reached transfer speeds over 400 MB/s, which isn’t quite as fast as some USB hubs on this list, but it’s solid for a sub-$50 device. Similarly, the SD card reader reached speeds of 80 MB/s for reading and writing, which isn’t the fastest SD cards can get, but adequate for moving files back and forth.—Eric Ravenscraft
Kensington Triple Video Mobile Dock for $83: Another mobile dock meant to provide additional external support, this one from Kensington can technically power up to three 1080p displays at 60 Hz using the two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort. It’s a lot of ports in a relatively small package, though the basic plastic case isn’t exactly inspiring.
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Global oil and gas prices have skyrocketed following the US attack on Iran last weekend. But another key global supply chain is also at risk, one that may directly impact American farmers who have already been squeezed for months by tariff wars. The conflict in the Middle East is choking global supplies of fertilizer right before the crucial spring planting season.
“This literally could not be happening at a worse time,” says Josh Linville, the vice president of fertilizer at financial services company StoneX.
The global fertilizer market focuses on three main macronutrients: phosphates, nitrogen, and potash. All of them are produced in different ways, with different countries leading in exports. Farmers consider a variety of factors, including crop type and soil conditions, when deciding which of these types of fertilizer to apply to their fields.
Potash and phosphates are both mined from different kinds of natural deposits; nitrogen fertilizers, by contrast, are produced with natural gas. QatarLNG, a subsidiary of Qatar Energy, a state-run oil and gas company, said on Monday that it would halt production following drone strikes on some of its facilities. This effectively took nearly a fifth of the world’s natural gas supply offline, causing gas prices in Europe to spike.
That shutdown puts supplies of urea, a popular type of nitrogen fertilizer, particularly at risk. On Tuesday, Qatar Energy said that it would also stop production of downstream products, including urea. Qatar was the second-largest exporter of urea in 2024. (Iran was the third-largest; it’s also a key exporter of ammonia, another type of nitrogen fertilizer.) Prices on urea sold in the US out of New Orleans, a key commodity port, were up nearly 15 percent on Monday compared to prices last week, according to data provided by Linville to WIRED. The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is also preventing other countries in the region from exporting nitrogen products.
“When we look at ammonia, we’re looking at almost 30 percent of global production being either involved or at risk in this conflict,” says Veronica Nigh, a senior economist at the Fertilizer Institute, a US-based industry advocacy organization. “It gets worse when we think about urea. Urea is almost 50 percent.”
Other types of fertilizer are also at risk. Saudi Arabia, Nigh says, supplies about 40 percent of all US phosphate imports; taking them out of the equation for more than a few days could create “a really challenging situation” for the US. Other countries in the region, including Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, also play a big role in these markets.
“We are already hearing reports that some of those Persian Gulf manufacturers are shutting down production, because they’re saying, ‘I have a finite amount of storage for my supply,’” Linville says. “‘Once I reach the top of it, I can’t do anything else. So I’m going to shut down my production in order to make sure I don’t go over above that.’”
Conflict in the strait has intensified in the early part of this week, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have reportedly threatened any ship passing through the strait. Traffic has slowed to a crawl. The Trump administration announced initiatives on Tuesday meant to protect oil tankers traveling through the strait, including providing a naval escort. Even if those initiatives succeed—which the shipping industry has expressed doubt about—much of the initial energy will probably go toward shepherding oil and gas assets out of the region.
“Fertilizer is not going to be the most valuable thing that’s gonna transit the strait,” says Nigh.
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