As so much of society depend on the electronic transistor in our electronics , we face up quite a challenge when they give out down . Existing junction transistor are vulnerable to radiation therapy and heat , inspiring a hunting for more static options to send into area . One team thinks rhomb , renowned for their stability , might allow for the answer , and has get a thin transistor layer on a rhomb substrate .
“ Diamond is the perfect material to employ in electronic transistor that need to withstand cosmic beam barrage fire in space or extreme heat within a car railway locomotive , in terms of performance and lastingness , ” saidDr Zongyou Yinof the Australian National University in astatement .
electronic transistor hold currents within electrical circuit using triple - stacked layers of semiconductors alternately dope with electron donors ( n - eccentric ) and acceptors ( p - types ) . Existing transistors are made from Si carbide and Ga nitride , but neither survive well in radioactive or high - temperature environments .
Yin modified commercially usable unreal diamonds so they would act as a substrate and fix a individual atom layer of hydrogen on top . On this , he add a thin layer of molybdenum oxide ( MoO3 ) , dope with atomic number 1 atom .
Diamonds may be very sturdy , but this would do little upright if the deposited layer proved unstable . Yin told IFLScience the diamond disperse heat and protect the layers above . Moreover , he added , the hydrogen doping makes for greater stableness than molybdenum oxide alone .
In gain to the durability his equipment declare oneself , Yin added they are also exceptionally minuscule and light , an vantage in many post , but especially for something that needs to be sent into space . diamond , even artificial ones , may be expensive , but these are so tiny the price of production should be tolerable .
Yin has published his work inScience Advances , but admits it is only at the trial impression - of - rationale phase . He told IFLScience he is keen to manufacture his own diamonds as part of the process of getting the transistor to the spot where they can be produced for industrial applications .
Yin is not the first to experiment with diamond electronic transistor . The fact that diamonds ' surfaces behave as p - character semiconductors when covered with a atomic number 1 coating hasattracted interestfor 20 year , and has inspired efforts to add n - type layers to make transistors , but earlier effort proved unstable under high temperatures .
The paper also express confidence that a wide stove of material whose surfaces play as “ utmost semiconductor ” can be used as substrates for conversion - metal oxide . Potential app let in honest solar cell , sensing devices , and the destruction of toxic chemical substance .
