The collaboration of FLEET researchers from University of Wollongong, Monash University and UNSW have shown in a theoretical study that using topological insulators rather than conventional semiconductors to make transistors could reduce the gate voltage by half, and the energy used by each transistor by a factor of four.

To accomplish this, they had to find a way to overcome the famous 'Boltzmann's tyranny' that puts a lower limit on transistor switching energy.

They found a surprising result: gate voltage applied to a topological insulator could create a barrier to electron flow larger than the voltage itself times the electron charge, a result previously thought impossible.

The mission of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) is to reduce the unsustainable energy load of information and computing technology (ICT), now consuming around 10% of global electricity.

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