Vietnam's Next-Gen Chip Strategy: Inside the Push for New 2D Semiconductor Materials

As global chipmakers hit the hard physical boundaries of silicon technology, the race for next-generation materials has shifted to the atomic scale. The traditional roadmap of miniaturization—famously predicted by Moore's Law—is stalling, leaving industry giants like TSMC, Samsung, and Intel searching for radical alternatives to sustain computing progress. Within this high-stakes landscape, a new generation of scientists is attempting to rewrite the rules of semiconductor physics using two-dimensional (2D) materials. At the forefront of this effort is Dr. Thi Quoc Huy, a Vietnamese researcher who returned from elite labs in Hong Kong to establish a domestic research group at the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT) under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). His mission is bold: to leverage pioneering 2D materials like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) to carve out an upstream niche for Vietnam in the global semiconductor hierarchy.

Quick summary

• The Silicon Bottleneck: The classic silicon semiconductor framework is hitting physical limits, exemplified by the massive cost hikes of TSMC's 2-nanometer wafers which deliver only marginal performance gains of 10-15%.
• Pioneering Local Research: Dr. Thi Quoc Huy has introduced world-class breakthroughs to Vietnam, including an award-winning ice-transfer method to prevent graphene contamination and a 30-degree rotation method to double the strength of TMDs.
• A Strategic Upstream Leap: While Vietnam lags significantly in physical chip fabrication, pioneering 2D materials science offers the nation a rare opportunity to master the upstream materials sector where the technological gap with developed countries is still narrow.

Why it matters

The semiconductor industry is highly consolidated, and building traditional manufacturing plants (fabs) requires tens of billions of dollars in capital—a barrier to entry that is practically insurmountable for developing nations. By shifting focus to next-generation 2D materials, Vietnam has a strategic window to secure vital intellectual property (IP) and advanced materials capability before the industry completes its transition away from bulk silicon. This pivot could elevate Vietnam from an outsourcing, packaging, and testing destination to a key player in the high-value upstream segment of next-gen electronics, directly impacting global supply chains in high-performance computing, smart sensors, and advanced energy devices.

Background

Two-dimensional materials burst into the scientific spotlight in 2010 when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the Nobel Prize in Physics for isolating graphene using a deceptively simple adhesive tape technique. Since then, the field has evolved from laboratory curiosity to a cornerstone of competitive industrial strategy, with tech giants like Samsung and TSMC actively exploring single-atom layers. Dr. Thi Quoc Huy's academic career directly mirrors this evolution. Having graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Science, he completed his doctoral and postdoctoral work at leading Hong Kong universities, where he developed patent-pending methods to manipulate these fragile materials. Returning to Vietnam in 2024, his goal is to establish a self-reliant domestic research pipeline that bridges the gap between academic innovation and industrial application.

Qnews24h insight

Vietnam's strategic bid to bypass the heavy capital requirements of traditional silicon fabs by targeting 2D materials is highly logical, yet it faces critical infrastructural headwind. Upstream research on atomic-scale materials is only as good as the diagnostic equipment available to verify structural anomalies and electronic configurations. Currently, Vietnamese research institutes suffer from a major lack of characterization tools, such as advanced transmission electron microscopes (TEM) and specialized spectroscopic equipment, forcing local teams to rely on foreign partnerships to validate their creations. For Vietnam to genuinely secure a foothold in the 2D semiconductor ecosystem, the government and domestic tech conglomerates must co-invest in centralized, state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities. Without this analytical infrastructure, Vietnamese innovations risk remaining confined to theoretical papers rather than translating into commercial IP.

The Impending Demise of Silicon: The 2-Nanometer Wall

For decades, the physical shrinking of transistors was the primary engine of modern computing progress. However, as transistor gates shrink to the level of individual atoms, the quantum effects of bulk silicon begin to degrade stability. Extreme heat dissipation, leakage currents, and electron scattering become severe barriers. This physical wall is already affecting commercial manufacturing. The mass production of 2-nanometer chips carries a wafer cost increase of roughly 50% compared to the 3-nanometer generation, yet it delivers a modest performance boost of only 10% to 15%.

To overcome this bottleneck, the global semiconductor industry is looking to alter the foundational materials of chips. Rather than using three-dimensional bulk crystals, researchers are moving toward two-dimensional materials that offer pristine electrical properties even when scaled down to a single layer of atoms.

The Promise of 2D Materials: Beyond Graphene

Two-dimensional materials like graphene, carbon nitride, and Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) are structural marvels with thicknesses measured in fractions of a nanometer. Graphene, structured as a single layer of carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice, possesses extraordinary electrical conductivity and thermal performance, making it highly effective for heat management in thin electronics.

However, graphene lacks a bandgap—the electronic property that allows a semiconductor to be switched on and off to represent binary 0 and 1. To address this, scientists are turning to TMDs, which naturally possess semiconductor bandgaps while retaining the extreme thinness and flexibility of 2D materials. This makes them the leading candidates to replace silicon in post-2nm logic gates.

Graphene's atomic single-layer structure represents a revolutionary leap beyond bulk silicon.

Solving the Clean Transfer Problem with Frozen Water

Handling materials that are a million times thinner than a human hair is an incredibly delicate task. Conventionally, graphene is grown on a metal catalyst sheet through Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). To utilize it in microchips, it must be detached from the metal and placed onto a silicon wafer.

The standard industry practice uses a polymer support layer (such as PMMA) to hold the graphene sheet, which is later dissolved with chemical solvents. This process routinely leaves trace polymer impurities that degrade the electrical performance of the material. To tackle this, Dr. Thi Quoc Huy and his team developed an award-winning, patented method that uses frozen water (ice) as a clean support medium. Once the graphene is positioned, the ice is evaporated or sublimated away cleanly, leaving a pristine, residue-free material. This green innovation won top honors at the Geneva International Invention Exhibition in 2024.

The innovative clean transfer technique using ice was successfully patented in the United States.

Strengthening Next-Gen Transistors: The 30-Degree Twist

Aside from clean handling, the physical fragility of single-atom-layer materials presents another massive engineering obstacle. To prevent microscopic tearing under thermal and physical stress, Dr. Huy's research team uncovered a mechanism to double the durability of TMDs, published in the prestigious journal Nature Materials in 2025.

By stacking two layers of TMDs with a precise 30-degree rotation, they created an engineered atomic interface that effectively blocks the propagation of structural cracks. This simple twist boundary design doubled the material's fracture toughness without sacrificing its underlying physical properties, paving the way for durable, flexible microelectronics.

Forging a Domestic Supply Chain: Opportunities and Infrastructure Gaps

At the IAT-VAST laboratory in Vietnam, Dr. Huy's research group has established a fully localized Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) system to synthesize their own graphene. Currently, commercial graphene sheets measuring only 2.5 centimeters can cost up to $200 on the international market. Localizing synthesis is a critical step toward lowering costs, facilitating collaborative academic research, and attracting domestic industrial interest.

Dr. Thi Quoc Huy presenting materials science opportunities to students and researchers in Vietnam.

The primary hurdle remains the diagnostic equipment gap. Analyzing 2D structures requires expensive analytical devices like transmission electron microscopes (TEM) to verify quality. Resolving this infrastructure deficit is crucial if Vietnam wants to transform its current theoretical research prowess into commercialized technology.

Conclusion: A Strategic Leap for Vietnamese Science

The global race for next-generation semiconductor materials offers a unique opening for emerging economies. While high-end fabrication of traditional silicon microchips is largely out of reach for Vietnam, the field of 2D materials is highly dynamic and accessible. By nurturing scientific talent, safeguarding intellectual property, and incrementally building diagnostic infrastructure, Vietnam's gamble on upstream materials science could secure the nation a foundational role in the next digital revolution.

Sources

This article is developed based on insights and interviews from VnExpress.