‘Surprising’ hidden activity of semiconductor material spotted by researchers

Prof. Gopalan in lab with students

By Jamie Oberdick

New research suggests that materials commonly overlooked in computer chip design actually play an important role in information processing, a discovery which could lead to faster and more efficient electronics. Using advanced imaging techniques, an international team led by Penn State researchers found that the material that a semiconductor chip device is built on, called the substrate, responds to changes in electricity much like the semiconductor on top of it.

Can AI crave a favorite food?

AI Sensor for Taste Image

By Jamie Oberdick

'Electronic tongue' holds promise as possible first step to artificial emotional intelligence

Can artificial intelligence (AI) get hungry? Develop a taste for certain foods? Not yet, but a team of Penn State researchers is developing a novel electronic tongue that mimics how taste influences what we eat based on both needs and wants, providing a possible blueprint for AI that processes information more like a human being.  

Solution found to problem bedeviling semiconductor researchers

Sapphire substrates

By Jamie Oberdick

Researchers from the National Science Foundation-sponsored Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium (2DCC-MIP) - Materials Innovation Platform may have come up with a solution for a bottleneck that has confounded researchers trying to develop high-quality 2D semiconductors for next generation electronics such as Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.  

Penn State and onsemi sign MOU to boost silicon carbide research in the U.S.

onsemi and Penn State partnership

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Geanie Umberger, Associate Vice President for Research; Director, Office of Industrial Partnerships, Penn State Sudhir Gopalswamy, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Advanced Solutions Group, onsemi Daniel Lopez, Liang Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Director of the Nanofabrication Lab, Penn State Catherine Côté, Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO, onsemi Tracy Langkilde, Dean of the Eberly College of Science (front), Penn State Justin Schwartz, Executive Vice President and Provost (back), Penn State Scott Allen, VP of Univ

Growing tomorrow’s semiconductor chips in the materials garden

terrones holds a sampl

In some ways, Mauricio Terrones is a gardener. An Evan Pugh University Professor and The Penn State Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, Terrones does not grow flowers or vegetables, but instead, one- or few-atom-thick two-dimensional (2D) materials. Specifically, creating materials with specific properties. The first 2D material ever created was graphene, and Terrones was a pioneer in developing 2D materials beyond graphene such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and Tungsten disulfide (WS2). These are layered 2D materials, monolayered, bi-layered, tri-layered or more.

Mauricio Terrones named head of the Department of Physics

Department Head of Physics

By Sam Sholtis

Mauricio Terrones, Evan Pugh University Professor and Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, and professor of chemistry and of material science and engineering, has been named the new George A. and Margaret M. Downsbrough Head of the Department of Physics at Penn State, effective July 1. Terrones succeeds Nitin Samarth, who has served as head of the department since 2011.

Subscribe to 2D Materials