A Chinese research team has developed a semiconductor microprocessor that is just a few atomic layers thick. The chip, WUJI, is a 32-bit RISC-V processor based on two-dimensional semiconductors.
RISC-V is an architecture known for being free and open-source, its design flexibility, and its low power consumption.
According to Zhou Peng at Fudan University, the microprocessor has 5,900 transistors and a complete standard cell library containing 25 types of logic units. It can perform addition and subtraction operations on up to 4.2 billion data points, allowing for the programming of up to 1 billion instructions.
According to the study, which was published in Nature this week, the 2D logic circuits and optimised process flow have been designed in alignment with advances in silicon integrated circuits.
Zhou, the paper’s corresponding author, said the research team leveraged innovative AI algorithms to enable precise control of material growth to integration processes.
According to the researchers, the team’s approach to manufacturing and design has successfully tackled the major challenges of wafer-scale integration for 2D circuits, resulting in a groundbreaking microprocessor prototype that demonstrates the vast potential of 2D integrated-circuit technology beyond standard silicon.
–WAM
