By Josh Perry, Editor
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Researchers at the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pa.) Materials Research Institute are studying cubic boron arsenide, which is becoming a common material of interest for researchers across the U.S., to see if it can be used for next-generation semiconductors that withstand greater levels of heat.

James Spencer Lundh, a graduate student studying mechanical engineering, uses liquid nitrogen. (Penn State University)

“In their research center, the Center for Studying the Physics of Transport (C-SPOT), the team plans to study the material, create simulations to test its effectiveness, and fuse the material into devices to see firsthand how it works,” a report from the university said.

Penn State claims that it is one of only two universities in the world that have the capability of studying boron arsenide at this scale, from synthesis through to functional devices.

The researchers will move on to test the initial simulations in the lab to prove the viability of cubic boron arsenide as a semiconductor and then try to incorporate it into a device that proves its thermal benefits.

As the researchers noted, this could be a major breakthrough for nanoscale devices because thermal management is one of the issues that is limiting the next generation of devices from being created.

“And when the components of these devices are shrunk to the nanoscale, the heat strain simply can’t be ignored,” the report continued. “It not only affects the performance, lifetime and practical use of current devices, but also limits the technology’s exponential advancement.”

One of the researchers explained that Penn State’s approach is to end the cycle of building devices and then finding out what the thermal issues are and to instead consider the electro-thermal models and making judgements about thermal management early in the process.