Emerging 2D Materials for Beyond von Neumann Computing: A Perspective

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential of 2D materials to revolutionize beyond von Neumann computing by enabling integrated, in-memory, and optical computing devices on a single semiconductor wafer.

Contribution

It surveys recent progress in 2D materials for scalable transistors, memristors, and photonic structures, emphasizing integration as the key future challenge.

Findings

Graphene transistors as scalable channels

Memristors for in-memory analog compute

Silicon-compatible 2D photonic structures

Abstract

The end of conventional Dennard scaling and the widening gap between memory bandwidth and arithmetic throughput have made the von Neumann partition a structural bottleneck rather than a transient one. Two-dimensional (2D) materials, with atomically thin geometries, electrically tunable carrier densities, and large optical responses, offer a unified platform on which to build devices that compute where they store, process events rather than clock cycles, and shift workload into the optical domain. This perspective surveys progress along three converging thrusts, graphene and graphene nanoribbon transistors as scalable channel materials, oxide and 2D-integrated memristors for in-memory analog compute, and silicon-compatible 2D photonic and thermal-emitter structures for optical computing primitives. Our central argument is that the 2D-materials community has spent a decade producing record devices, and the next decade will be decided by who first integrates three of them on a single semiconductor wafer.