An international team of researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), Tohoku University (Japan), and École Polytechnique de Montréal (Canada) has made a significant discovery in semiconductor science by revealing the remarkable spin-related material properties of Germanium-Tin (GeSn) semiconductors.

Semiconductors control the flow of electricity that power everyday technology all around us (such as cars and computers). However, technology is progressing at such a breakneck speed that it is straining current semiconductor technologies.

“Semiconductors are approaching their physical and energy-efficiency limits in terms of speed, performance, and power consumption,” says Makoto Kohda from Tohoku University. “This is a huge issue because we need semiconductors that can keep up as we shift to more demanding needs such as 5G/6G networks and the increased use of artificial intelligence.”