A Chinese-US research team has synthesised a functional semiconductor out of graphene for the first time, in a possible leap forward for superfast computing beyond silicon chips.
Graphene is a simple material, made up of just a single layer of carbon atoms, said to be a million times thinner than human hair. But it is stronger than almost anything else in nature, and beats silicon hands down when it comes to electronic potential.
Ever since graphene was discovered in 2004, scientists have tried to use it, in combination with other carbon materials, to devise a new kind of chip – one that would use less power and work faster than any semiconductor in existence.
This long-elusive feat might now be close to reality, according to nano scientists at China’s Tianjin University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, whose findings were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
