New Material, Graphene, Promising for Computer Applications

A new study, published online in the most recent issue of the leading scientific journal Nature Nanotechnolgy is showing that a new material, termed graphene, could lead to better computing applications due to the easiness on how well the material conducts electricity. As a matter of fact, electron mobility (electricity) in graphene is higher than any other known material at room temperature.

Graphene is a new material made of a single-atom-thick sheet of graphite. This particular structure made graphene a new material that combines successfully properties of both metals and semiconductors, which may have interesting applications in computer technology in the near future. In fact, the new study mentions that one day the new material graphene could replace some day conventional semiconductor materials used today such as silicon. This will lead to the emergence of new high-speed super computers.

The study that showed how well graphene conducts electricity was led by physics professor Michael S. Fuhrer from The Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials (Maryland NanoCenter).

In this study Dr. Fuhrer showed that the new material graphene is has significantly lower thermal vibration. According to commonly accepted physics principles the movement of a particle is significantly affected (slowed down) by thermal vibrations. If those thermal vibrations are small they will have little effect on the particle movement (and speed).

When electrons travel through any material they find atoms of the material that interfere with their movement due to the intrinsic thermal vibration of those atoms. As temperature increase thermal vibration is higher and interference with electron movement increases too. This thermal vibration acts as a resistance to electron movement.

In graphene, this resistance is reduced significantly (because of the structure of the material), as much as 35% less than the resistance of copper (a traditional metal used for electricity with the lowest resistance at room temperature).