Record-setting charge mobility in germanium-silicon material points to energy-saving quantum chips

11/12/2025
Credit: Materials Today (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.mattod.2025.10.004


Most modern semiconductors are fabricated of or on silicon (Si), but as devices get smaller and denser, they dissipate more power and, as a result, are reaching their physical limits. Germanium (Ge)—once used in the first transistors of the 1950s—is now making a comeback as researchers find new ways to harness its superior properties while keeping the benefits of silicon's established manufacturing technologies.

In a new study published in Materials Today, a team led by Warwick's Dr. Maksym Myronov achieved a major step toward the next generation of electronics—creating a material using a nanometer-thin, compressively strained germanium epilayer on silicon, that allows electrical charge to move faster than ever before in a material compatible with modern chipmaking.

The breakthrough was achieved by carefully engineering a thin germanium layer on top of a silicon wafer. By applying just the right amount of strain to the germanium layer, they created an ultra-clean crystal structure that allows electrical charge to flow almost without resistance.

When evaluated, the material demonstrated a record hole mobility of 7.15 million cm² per volt-second, meaning charge can move through it far more easily than in silicon. This could enable future chips to run faster and dissipate less energy.

Dr. Sergei Studenikin, principal research officer, National Research Council of Canada adds, "This sets a new benchmark for charge transport in group-IV semiconductors—the materials at the heart of the global electronics industry. It opens the door to faster, more energy-efficient electronics and quantum devices that are fully compatible with existing silicon technology."

The research establishes a new pathway for ultra-fast, low-power electronics, with potential applications spanning quantum information processing, spin qubits, cryogenic controllers for quantum processors, AI, and data-center hardware with reduced energy and cooling demands.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/4byt2zbf via Phys.Org