Atom-thin 2D semiconductor chips
Some materials can be made just a few atoms thick, like sheets of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Transistors made from them could keep chips shrinking after silicon runs out of room. In 2025 a team at Fudan University in Shanghai built a working 32-bit processor, WUJI, from 5,900 of them.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025How far from your life: Usually 10 years or more from products, and most never get there.
Independently sourcedFrom lab to your life
Why it’s on step 1
- 1Lab discovery
- 2Working prototype
- 3Real-world testing
- 4Approved or on sale
- 5Everyday life
The rule
Shown in a lab or a computer model, in a published paper or preprint, with nothing on record beyond it yet.
- A Fudan University team reported WUJI in Nature: a 32-bit processor built from 5,900 transistors made of atom-thin MoS2, far beyond the previous record of 115. Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025
The short version
What you need to know
- Why it matters
Atom-thin semiconductors are widely seen as a key way to keep microprocessors improving.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025- How small
Its features are only a few atomic layers thick.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025- Is it really nano?
Truly nano
The semiconductor is a layer a few atoms thick; that thinness is the point.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025- Who’s behind it
Fudan University (Zhou Peng and Bao Wenzhong's team) and other labs
On the record
Every step, dated
Newest first. Company-reported means the only source so far is the company itself.
- Published research
A Fudan University team reported WUJI in Nature: a 32-bit processor built from 5,900 transistors made of atom-thin MoS2, far beyond the previous record of 115.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025
Sources
Where every line comes from
Each source with the passage, word for word, that backs what we wrote.
- Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025
The micro CPU, called WUJI, integrates a record-breaking 5,900 transistors,
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