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Engineering News |
| Faster, Smaller and More Versatile Computer Chips From Graphene | |
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Engineers Edge - Scientists and engineers from Stanford, the University of Florida and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are the first to create one of two basic types of semiconductors using an exotic, new, one-atom-thick material called graphene. The research could lead to computer chips that smaller, have more memory capacity, and process data faster.
A paper detailing the research and co-authored by eight researchers will be published in May 2009 in the journal Science. "There are still enormous challenges to really put it into products, but I think this really could play an important role," said Jing Guo, a UF assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and one of two UF authors who contributed. The team fabricated, modeled and tested an "n-type" transistor out of graphene nanoribbon. Graphene is a derivative of carbon that has been referred to as “atomic chicken wire," due in part to its honeycomb-like structure of interconnected hexagons. A graphene nanoribbon is a nanometer-wide strip cut from a graphene layer. The research group’s accomplishment is a first as fundamental transistors come in only two forms -- "p-type" and "n-type”, which refers to the presence of holes and electrons, respectively. "P-type" graphene semiconductors had already been achieved, so the manufacture of an "n-type" graphene semiconductor completes the fundamental building blocks. "This work is essentially finding a new way to modify a graphene nanoribbon to make it able to conduct electrons," Guo said. "This addresses a very fundamental requirement for graphene to be useful in the production of electronics." Graphene was first isolated or refined in 2004 and has excited researchers because of the promising electrical properties and smaller size possibilities. Silicon is close to reaching the upper limits of its physical performance possibilities. If more advanced, smaller, more-powerful, and less expensive semiconductors are to be developed, and then new materials must be found to replace or compliment silicon. Graphene is one of the most promising materials for micro and nanoelectronics. Five Stanford researchers led by Hongjie Dai, J.G. Jackson-C.J. Wood Professor of Chemistry, did the experimental work behind the findings. Guo and fellow author Youngki Yoon, who earned his doctoral degree from UF last December and is now at the University of California, Berkeley, did the computer modeling and simulation. The team also included Peter Webber of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Said Dai, "This work is just a beginning. It suggests that graphene chemistry and chemistry at the edges are rich areas to explore for both fundamental and practical reasons for this material." The UF portion of the research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. The Stanford portion was funded by MARCO MSD, Intel and the Office of Naval Research. Related Resource: Computer Technology
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