After years of research and development, Chinese scientists have successfully developed a wafer made of artificial sapphire as an insulating medium, providing important technical support for the development of low-power chips. This achievement was published on August 7th in the international academic journal Nature. With the continuous miniaturization of electronic devices and the increasing demand for performance, the number of transistors in chips continues to increase and their size is shrinking, which also brings new technological challenges, especially in the field of dielectric materials. The dielectric materials in electronic chips mainly serve as insulation, but when the thickness of traditional dielectric materials is reduced to the nanometer level, their insulation performance will significantly decrease, leading to current leakage. This not only increases the energy consumption of the chip, but also leads to an increase in heat generation, affecting the stability and service life of the equipment. To solve this problem, the research team has developed an innovative metal intercalation oxidation technology. Di Zengfeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, said that the previous dielectric materials were mainly made of amorphous materials. This invention is mainly about the invention of crystal dielectric materials. Through the intercalation oxidation technology, single crystal aluminum oxide was oxidized, realizing that single crystal aluminum oxide as a dielectric material, which can achieve very low leakage current under 1 nanometer. Tian Ziao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, said that this alumina is a sapphire. Although it is synthetic, its crystal structure, dielectric properties, and insulation properties are the same as those of gemstones in our real life. This is our most typical device structure, with germanium semiconductor material below, dielectric in the middle, and metal on top. This is a thin layer in the middle, only about 2 nanometers long. It is our artificially synthesized sapphire, and its interface is very clear. The very smooth interface also helps to limit the generation of leakage current. It is reported that by using this new material, the research team has successfully prepared low-power chip devices, greatly improving their battery life and operating efficiency. This achievement is not only of great significance for the battery life of smartphones, but also provides strong support for the development of low-power chips in fields such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. (New Society)