Chinese researchers have developed a process to grow wafer-scale two-dimensional semiconductors at about 1,000 times the previous speed. With the limits of silicon miniaturization becoming clearer, the result is being seen as a potential turning point in competition over next-generation semiconductor materials.

IT outlet TechRadar reported on Wednesday that researchers at the National University of Defense Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Metal Research redesigned a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process and presented a technique to grow a monolayer tungsten silicon nitride thin film at wafer scale.

The key is a change in substrate structure. The team introduced a liquid gold and tungsten bilayer structure instead of a conventional solid substrate, lowering physical limits on growth speed. It succeeded in producing a monolayer thin film with tunable doping characteristics in a size of about 1.4 by 0.7 inches. The researchers assessed the achievement as an early step showing scalable manufacturing potential for high-performance 2D semiconductors.

Across the semiconductor industry, there is a growing view that silicon-based processes are nearing their limits as they approach the atomic scale. As transistor sizes shrink, quantum effects and heat problems grow, and computing demand is surging with the spread of AI and large language models (LLMs), making it difficult to improve performance with existing structures alone. Against this backdrop, atom-thick 2D semiconductors are emerging as an alternative.

A lack of p-type 2D semiconductor materials, essential for next-generation transistor designs, has been cited as a major bottleneck. Researcher Mengjian Ju (주멍젠) at the National University of Defense Technology pointed to a shortage of high-performance p-type materials as a key constraint on developing 2D semiconductors at 5 nanometers and below. The tungsten silicon nitride thin film developed in the study was presented as a candidate material targeting that limitation.

The team explained that the film combines high hole mobility, on-state current density, mechanical strength, heat dissipation performance and chemical stability. It also expanded single-crystal regions to the sub-millimeter level, and boosted production speed from growth of about 0.00004 inches over roughly 5 hours to about 0.0008 inches per minute. In numerical terms, that is about a 1,000-fold improvement.

Challenges remain before commercialization. The study is at the stage of producing a centimeter-scale film in a laboratory setting, leaving a large gap from processes that mass-produce defect-free wafers. Liquid gold-based substrates are effective in research environments, but are seen as a costly structure for industrial sites.

The industry largely takes a cautious view, seeing the result as meaningful progress in 2D semiconductor manufacturing technology while treating whether it can be applied to mass production as a separate issue. Past cases have shown that promising 2D materials have often failed to move from papers into industry.

Ultimately, the key is scalability and economics. If the process can address mass production and cost issues at the same time, it has been raised as a factor that could change the competitive landscape in semiconductors after silicon.