A domestic research team has developed a technology that will lead the next-generation semiconductor market.
The National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) said on Oct. 20 that a research team led by Hanyang University professors Park Hee-jun and Kim Kyung-hak developed a new technology that boosts both the performance and stability of perovskite, a next-generation semiconductor material, and used it to implement a thin-film transistor (TFT). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and power.
Semiconductor materials used to make devices are divided into two types: p-type and n-type. To make semiconductor devices, the two materials must be properly combined, but improving the performance of p-type devices compared to n-type devices has remained a technical challenge.
To solve this problem, the researchers focused on perovskite, a material that has recently drawn attention. However, most of this material contains lead, posing environmental issues. Using tin-based eco-friendly perovskite can solve the lead problem, but tin oxidizes easily, leading to performance degradation.
The team devised a method to stabilize the crystal structure by adding methylammonium chloride (MACl). This reduced defects inside the material and greatly mitigated oxidation issues. Using this perovskite, they implemented a p-type thin-film transistor (TFT) with world-class performance.
The transistor is projected to retain more than 70% of its performance for over 10 years at room temperature. In particular, when combined with the encapsulation technology used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, it is expected to be immediately applicable in industrial settings.
Park Hee-jun said, "This outcome is the first case of simultaneously achieving top-tier electrical performance and long-term stability with tin-based perovskite, demonstrating the commercialization potential of a next-generation semiconductor material that combines eco-friendliness and high performance," adding, "Expansion into various fields such as next-generation displays, optical sensors, and low-power logic devices is expected."
Samsung Electronics Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) also jointly participated in this study, and the results were published in the international journal "Nature Electronics" on Oct. 17 (local time).
References
Nature Electronics (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-025-01467-2