The semiconductors of the future – “magical” if they work

Published 1 June 2026

Two people wearing protective glasses and lab coats conducting scientific experiments. Photo. — “The material we’re working on would save a lot of energy by converting electricity in a very efficient way – if it were conductive. But it’s not, so the project is about how we can achieve that,” says Vanya Darakchieva. Photo: Kennet Ruona

Semiconductors are a cornerstone of all electronics around which the modern world revolves. But they need to become much more energy efficient. Researchers at two Swedish universities are now investigating whether semiconductor materials with ultra-wide band gaps could be the solution. The Knut and Alice Foundation recently published a piece portraying Vanya Darakchieva.

There are materials that are good electrical conductors, those that are insulators – and then there are semiconductors, which conduct electricity in certain circumstances. In semiconductors, the energy levels of electrons form energy bands that are separated by a band gap. Under certain conditions, electrons can gain enough energy to jump across the band gap, causing the material to begin conducting electric current.

Current semiconductor chips are largely based on silicon compounds with small band gaps. They have been the easiest to use, but over time materials with larger band gaps have also been developed and are used in LED lighting and for other purposes. In a project funded by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, researchers in Lund and Linköping are now working on a third type of material, with ultra‑wide band gaps.

“On average, almost 10 percent of all the energy that is produced is lost at various stages when one form of energy is converted into another. The material we’re working on would save a lot of energy by converting electricity in a very efficient way – if it were conductive. But it’s not, so the project is about how we can achieve that,” says Vanya Darakchieva, professor of solid‑state physics and head of the project.

Unknown reactions to be mapped

The material on which the researchers are focusing is aluminum nitride. But the goal is not only to succeed with that compound specifically, but to create a theoretical and practical framework for how to steer certain materials – a group of ceramics – to function as semiconductors.

A woman and a man standing in a laboratory wearing blue coats. Photo. — Vanya Darakchieva and Andri Dhora. Photo: Kennet Ruona

Ceramics generally have a crystalline structure. To make them conductive, they must be fabricated with designed defects in the crystal. The challenge is to produce a material that becomes sufficiently pure, with the precise defects that make it useful – but no others.

“It’s as if we are trying to tap the material with a magic wand, so that it suddenly works the way we want it to. Sometimes we are successful magicians, sometimes not. But even when we fail, we learn a great deal. Ultra‑wide band gaps make all physical phenomena completely different compared with other semiconductors,” says Vanya Darakchieva.

Continue reading on the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s website:

“That is our vision: to allow physicists to cross an entirely new frontier in materials development”