The belief is this material could potentially revolutionise thermal management designs for computer processors and other electronics, or for light-based devices like LEDs; addressing ‘hotspots’ in computer chips that degrade their performance.
According to UCLA, its defect-free boron arsenide has record-high thermal conductivity, more than three-times faster at conducting heat than currently used materials, such as silicon carbide and copper.
"This material could help greatly improve performance and reduce energy demand in all kinds of electronics, from small devices to the most advanced computer data centre equipment," Assistant Professor Yongjie Hu of UCLA, said. "It has excellent potential to be integrated into current manufacturing processes because of its semiconductor properties and the demonstrated capability to scale-up this technology. It could replace current state-of-the-art semiconductor materials for computers and revolutionise the electronics industry."
In addition to the impact for electronic and photonics devices, the team says they also revealed new fundamental insights into the physics of how heat flows through a material.
"This success exemplifies the power of combining experiments and theory in new materials discovery, and I believe this approach will continue to push the scientific frontiers in many areas, including energy, electronics, and photonics applications," Assistant Prof. Hu said.
