Is Graphene the New Silicon?
March 28, 2008 | Source: KurzweilAI
University of Maryland physicists have found that graphene conducts electricity at room temperature with less intrinsic resistance than any other known material.
Graphene, a new material that combines aspects of semiconductors and metals, is one of the materials being considered as a potential replacement for silicon for future computing. The very high mobility of graphene would allow for transistors that must switch extremely fast.
The low resistivity and extremely thin nature of graphene also holds promise for applications in thin, mechanically tough, electrically conducting transparent films.
Intrinsic resistance results from the unavoidable lattice vibrations in a material when the temperature is greater than absolute zero and determines a material’s mobility, or the speed at which an electrons move when an electric field is applied.