Ordinary transistors used in various electronic devices are made from toxic and expensive materials, but a group of scientists at UCLA found a new way to make super-fast graphene transistors.
Graphene has a great potential to make electronic devices such as phones, radios and computers smaller and faster. The new graphene-based technology could play a key role in waste reduction and energy conservation.
The only problem is that the material can’t be manipulated so easily on an atomic scale. So, researchers are coming up with various ways to solve this issue. For example, scientists at the University of Illinois have come up with a new method to manipulate graphene into shapes by using nanodroplets of water as “chaperones”. Another discovery comes from a group of researchers at the University of South Florida which have created graphene nanowires, formed by disrupting the structure of graphene sheets.
The UCLA scientists have developed a new process that can make graphene nanowire gates (the “switch” in transistors). Thus, the transistors will be aligned precisely, without any assist. Unlike of the previous experiments, UCLA’s process was a great progress because the results were free of defects.
The team was able to obtain a speed comparable to regular high speed transistors, such as those made from toxic substances (indium phosphide and gallium arsenide).
[Source: Cleantechnica]
