Shiming Zhang

New on Science Cover @ScienceMagazine today! We report a hydrogel semiconductor with record-high modulation thickness up to millimeter scales while maintaining a high switching on/off ratio.

Congratulations to University of Hong Kong Professor Shiming Zhang (@jluoled), whose groundbreaking research on 3D semiconductors just landed on the cover of @ScienceMagazine! A century after Julius Edgar Lilienfeld’s invention of the transistor in 1925, the building blocks of electronics are now measured in nanometres. But with further breakthroughs running into physical and theoretical limits, Professor Zhang had a different idea: what if it was possible to design transistors in three dimensions, which could work like neurons in the human brain? That was easier said than done, however. Finding the answer took over five years of research and thousands of attempts. The key? Solving a hard problem with soft materials. While silicon-based transistors are rigid and two-dimensional, Professor Zhang and his team, which included researchers from HKU and Cambridge, leveraged their experience in biosensors and wearables to develop a world first: 3D hydrogel-based transistors. The potential of these new “chips” is near limitless, says Professor Zhang. Not only could they pave the way for a new generation of semiconductor architecture, but also because they are hydrogel based, they can potentially integrate with biological cells in ways rigid silicon chips never could. Professor Zhang is already looking at potential applications of the technology, including exciting new developments like neuromorphic computing. Current AI chips are resource-intensive, but in theory, biological options could run primarily on glucose. But Professor Zhang also urges caution: pointing to CRISPR as an example, he notes the importance of thinking through the ethics of the development and ensuring that it is used for good. “We need an ethical and regulatory framework,” he says. #HKU #香港大學 #UniversityofHongKong

Congratulations to University of Hong Kong Professor Shiming Zhang (@jluoled), whose groundbreaking research on 3D semiconductors just landed on the cover of @ScienceMagazine! A century after Julius Edgar Lilienfeld’s invention of the transistor in 1925, the building blocks of electronics are now measured in nanometres. But with further breakthroughs running into physical and theoretical limits, Professor Zhang had a different idea: what if it was possible to design transistors in three dimensions, which could work like neurons in the human brain? That was easier said than done, however. Finding the answer took over five years of research and thousands of attempts. The key? Solving a hard problem with soft materials. While silicon-based transistors are rigid and two-dimensional, Professor Zhang and his team, which included researchers from HKU and Cambridge, leveraged their experience in biosensors and wearables to develop a world first: 3D hydrogel-based transistors. The potential of these new “chips” is near limitless, says Professor Zhang. Not only could they pave the way for a new generation of semiconductor architecture, but also because they are hydrogel based, they can potentially integrate with biological cells in ways rigid silicon chips never could. Professor Zhang is already looking at potential applications of the technology, including exciting new developments like neuromorphic computing. Current AI chips are resource-intensive, but in theory, biological options could run primarily on glucose. But Professor Zhang also urges caution: pointing to CRISPR as an example, he notes the importance of thinking through the ethics of the development and ensuring that it is used for good. “We need an ethical and regulatory framework,” he says. #HKU #香港大學 #UniversityofHongKong

This image shows three-dimensional, millimeter-thick, and cell-embeddable semiconducting hydrogel fibers. These fibers can be used to construct interwoven living transistors that mimic real neuronal connections in the brain, redefining the boundary between technology and life. Learn more this week in Science: scim.ag/4o5bf8w