[File photo Xinhua]

Chinese scientists on Monday revealed the discovery of a room-temperature ductile inorganic semiconductor, which is expected to serve as a new material for use in manufacturing as well as further research regarding flexible displays.

According to a paper submitted to Nature Materials by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science, the new inorganic semiconductor, α-Ag2S, exhibits extraordinary metal-like ductility with high plastic deformation strains even at room temperature. Analysis of the chemical bounding reveals that it possesses a system of planes with relatively weak atomic interactions within the crystal structure.

“In combination with irregularly distributed silver–silver and sulfur–silver bonds due to the silver diffusion, they suppress the cleavage of the material, and thus result in unprecedented ductility. Our work opens up the possibility of a new search for ductile inorganic semiconductors/ceramics for flexible electronic devices,” the paper further noted.

Due to its promising application prospects, China has been making great effort on research and manufacture of flexible displays and new semiconductors. According to Xinhua, CSOT, a subsidiary of the Chinese smart product maker TCL Corp., started building the country's first production line for flexible displays in 2017, which will make China a key supplier of the product often used to make bracelet-shaped mobile phones and folding tablets. The production line is located in central China’s Wuhan and costs 35 billion yuan (5 billion U.S. dollars).