Graphene steps up to silicon’s challenge

March 1, 2007 | Source: [email protected]

University of Manchester researchers have created an atom-sized single electron transistor (SET) from a device etched out of a sheet of graphene (a two-dimensional form of carbon).

Current industry predictions suggest that by 2020 silicon devices will have shrunk to about 20 nanometres and have reached their limit in size and performance. It is only after this that materials such as graphene will come into their own. And that gives scientists time to perfect the tricky fabrication methods to make such small devices.