| Posted: June 9, 2010 |
A major step forward in mass production of graphene |
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(Nanowerk News) Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties.
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Their study appears in ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal ("Graphene Synthesis on Cubic SiC/Si Wafers. Perspectives for Mass Production of Graphene-Based Electronic Devices").
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| Atomic structure of graphene
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Victor Aristov and colleagues indicate that graphene has the potential to replace silicon in high-speed computer processors and other devices. Standing in the way, however, are today's cumbersome, expensive production methods, which result in poor-quality graphene and are not practical for industrial scale applications.
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Aristov and colleagues report that they have developed "a very simple procedure for making graphene on the cheap." They describe growing high-quality graphene on the surface of commercially available silicon carbide wafers to produce material with excellent electronic properties. It "represents a huge step toward technological application of this material as the synthesis is compatible with industrial mass production," their report notes.
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