The element driving this innovation is Bismuth. Bismuth connects the monolayer material (molybdenum disulfide) with the metal electrode. Bismuth is only twice a

The element driving this innovation is Bismuth. Bismuth connects the monolayer material (molybdenum disulfide) with the metal electrode. Bismuth is only twice as abundant as gold and its largest producer by far is China. China also decided in 2020 that their Fanya Metal Exchange bismuth stocks would be used internally for manufacturing[1]. I wonder, if Bismuth is largely required for large scale production of chips in the future, if it will drive more mining for bismuth, as it typically is a byproduct of other metal extraction, particularly lead. If not, would we then see in an increase in the price of Bismuth? Or is the volume of bismuth required for these chips not enough to drive global price increases? [1] https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf