World’s first 1-nanometre RISC-V chip made in China with 2D materials
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s most complex two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor microprocessor, with the chip set to enter pilot-scale production.
Details of the chip, which is less than one nanometre thick, were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Wednesday. Its most notable advance is that fabrication of the chip does not rely on advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, opening a new, independent pathway for China in semiconductor innovation.
As silicon-based integrated circuits approach the physical limits of miniaturisation, researchers worldwide have turned to 2D materials, such as molybdenum disulphide and tungsten diselenide, to push the boundaries of chip performance.
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Typically only one atom thick, these materials offer remarkable physical properties, enabling further scaling and improved functionality in next-generation circuits.
Although wafer-scale growth of 2D materials has been achieved over the past decade, until now the most complex 2D semiconductor digital circuit – developed by the Vienna University of Technology in 2017 – contained just 115 transistors.
"[This is because] carving the same object out of tofu is far harder than carving it from jade," Fudan University professor Bao Wenzhong said, describing the fragility and challenges of using 2D semiconductors compared with traditional silicon in chip manufacturing.
After five years of development, Bao, along with Professor Zhou Peng from Fudan University’s National Key Laboratory of Integrated Circuits and Systems and their team, built a 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor named Wuji, incorporating 5,900 transistors and measuring less than 1nm thick.
This achievement represents a new global benchmark in 2D semiconductor integration.
The key to the more than 50-fold increase in the chip’s integration level lies in the team’s ability to maintain both precision and uniformity at the atomic scale – crucial for high manufacturing yields.
"For example, inverter circuits are basic building blocks of chips, and how well they work shows the chip’s overall quality," Zhou said. "The inverters we made with 2D materials performed really well – they had strong signal output and very low energy loss when turned off, which is a big step forward in engineering."
The team fabricated a 30 x 30 array of inverters – 900 in total – and testing showed that 898 functioned correctly, achieving a record yield of 99.77 per cent. The circuits exhibited superior switching voltage and consistency compared to similar studies.
The fabrication of Wuji involved highly complex processes, some of which were optimised with the help of artificial intelligence. Building on a 2021 study, the team refined every step from material synthesis to integration, improving experimental efficiency.
The chip is built on the open-source RISC-V architecture, which enables alignment with international standards without dependency on proprietary IP.
"Choosing RISC-V means we can build a fully autonomous ecosystem without being restricted by foreign vendors’ architectures or patents," said Professor Han Jun, co-author of the paper.
Under a 32-bit instruction set, Wuji can perform mathematical operations on up to 4.2 billion data units, support gigabyte-scale data storage and access, and execute programs containing up to 1 billion RISC instructions.
In 2022, the same team developed a machine vision chip using molybdenum disulphide, and in 2023 achieved rapid growth of monolayer molybdenum disulphide on 12-inch wafers via chemical vapour deposition.
According to China Science Daily, Wuji is now preparing to enter pilot-scale production. Around 70 per cent of its fabrication steps can be integrated into existing silicon-based production lines. The remaining specialised processes for 2D materials were developed in-house, supported by over 20 invention patents.
"This isn’t a wholesale technological upheaval," Bao said. "Think of it as building a multi-story office building: the foundation and structure remain the same, but a few floors in the middle are repurposed as shopping malls. These sections require unique design and tooling."
The development will help China’s chip industry forge ahead, according to Bao.
"By using domestically developed semiconductor equipment and the open-source RISC-V framework – without relying on EUV lithography – and by creating a full-stack 2D integration process, we’ve laid the foundation for a new, self-reliant development path for China’s chip industry."
Looking ahead, Zhou stressed that 2D semiconductors were expected to complement, rather than replace, traditional silicon chips. These new processors would remain compatible with existing interfaces and could be deployed in a wide range of current applications.
Globally, research into 2D semiconductors is still in its early stages and has yet to achieve widespread commercial application. While performance gaps with commercial chips remain, this advance positions China to take a potential lead in the next frontier of semiconductor innovation.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia. For more SCMP stories, please download our mobile app, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
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April 4, 2025 at 04:39PM
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3305185/worlds-first-1-nanometre-risc-v-chip-made-china-2d-materials