Researchers advance silicon integration of 2D metal oxides and CMOS resonators

Researchers have developed new methods to integrate advanced two-dimensional metal oxides with silicon technology, addressing a major hurdle in semiconductor development. By reconstructing the oxygen atomic plane on mica surfaces, a team including scientists from Wenzhou University, MIT, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully grew large-scale, single-crystalline films of transition metal monoxides. This van der Waals epitaxy approach allows for the growth of cobalt, iron, nickel, and manganese oxides that are compatible with conventional chips, potentially advancing spintronic and neuromorphic computing.

In a separate advancement in materials engineering, researchers have introduced a CMOS-compatible resonator platform designed for high frequency stability. By combining hafnium–zirconium oxide (HZO) with silicon dioxide, the team created nanomechanical resonators that maintain a temperature-insensitive mechanical response. This development aims to provide a scalable, energy-efficient alternative to quartz resonators, which are difficult to integrate monolithically with silicon and often require bulky compensation circuits.