October 26, Interesting Engineering: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a way to grow a single crystalline compound semiconductor on its substrate through two-dimensional materials. This makes possible the inexpensive mass production of ultra-thin gallium arsenide and gallium nitride chips, meaning industries like solar energy, photonics, wearables and IoT can benefit from this discovery. “We found the way to go to expensive semiconducting materials so you can keep producing high-quality, high-performance semiconductors with a cheaper price,” said lead researcher Jeehwan Kim, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at MIT.