Transistor made from vanadium dioxide could function as smart window for blocking infrared light
Friday, February 8, 2013 - 13:30
in Physics & Chemistry
The transistor is the ultimate on-off switch. When a voltage is applied to the surface of a semiconductor, current flows; when the voltage is reversed, current is blocked. Researchers have tried for decades to replicate these effects in transition metal oxides by using a voltage to convert the material from an insulator to a metal, but the induced change only occurs within a few atomic layers of the surface.