Multiplying the Power of Light – Graphene One of the Greatest Discoveries of Our Time
Japan electronic engineers at GNC and AIST research centers have successfully created graphene transistors that are constructed and operated in a way that redefines the past 50 years of transistor development. These graphene transistors can be built using conventional CMOS processes, and could potentially be many times smaller, hundreds of times faster, and consume much less power than its silicon transistors counterpart.
Basic design of the transistor has remained pretty much unchanged since their discovery at Bell Labs in 1947.
Their are two terminals, a source and a drain, and a gate in the middle. When the current is applied to the gate, electricity flows between the source and drain. This design has withstood the most dramatic miniaturization mankind has ever seen. From gate lengths measuring in centimeters, down to a few nanometers, unfortunately, it doesn’t work with graphene gates.
Graphene is the most amazing material on Earth. It is the strongest material to yet have been discovered on earth, and also the most electrically conductive.
Transistors built with in the graphene could potentially be hundreds or even thousands of times faster than their silicon counterparts. They can withstand even further miniaturization to gate lengths of just a few nano meters Problem being, though, is that the gate of a transistor must be made out of a semiconductor — and pure graphene is anything but.
This leads us neatly onto this new, fundamentally different transistor from GNC and AIST.
Instead of one gate, the Japanese transistor has two gates and, to create a transport gap, the graphene between the two gates is irradiated with helium ions to introduce crystal defects. By applying a small current to the two gates, the graphene’s bandgap can be manipulated.
When the polarity (positive/negative) is applied to both gates is the same, the transistor turns on; when the polarities are different, the transistor is turned off.
By applying different polarities to each of the gates, the graphene can be switched between n- and p-types — in other words, the transistor can actually have its behavior altered between nFET and pFET modes at runtime. A conventional transistor, of course, is set it stone.
Beyond new design, the most notable aspect of the Japanese transistor is that it’s compatible with conventional CMOS fabrication techniques. The proof-of-concept graphene transistor built by GNC and AIST is absolutely tiny, with a gate width of just 30nm. Compare this with another graphene transistor that we wrote about last year, which was 100,000nm wide.
That is almost unheard of for graphene research groups to begin at such a tiny scale — but that’s the advantage of using hyper-advanced CMOS techniques, rather than starting from scratch.
The research team moving forward will attempt to create a whole wafer of graphene transistors to see if their process is commercially scalable. They want to improve the quality of the graphene that’s being deposited (it’s currently very low quality).
Also they want to investigate the potential of graphene transistors that can be electrically controlled with computer chips.
With these two-gate graphene transistors, we could be talking about ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-power programmable processors — which would be a rather big development in the realm of computing, and a sizable nail in the coffin of silicon chips…
Interesting post Drew! It is amazing to think our technology and computers will only get faster. When we think back to where we were even 10-15 years ago, it is crazy where we have evolved to. Learned something new today, never heard of graphene before
Hi Drew,
Isn’t it amazing how the technology keeps getting better and better….but somehow I can just be driving down the street and lose all cell service? In a city that is complete 4g?
Thanks for the post, it was really enlightening!
That is intense! imagine in 25 years where technology will be!
25 years, try like 5 years.
so true
I’ll be honest, I didn’t understand all of that (electricity eludes me, I just like to think of it as magic so my brain doesn’t explode). But it’s really amazing. We have come so very far in such a short time on this. When I think about how quickly computers and phones and pretty much everything else has escalated, it boggles my mind. A few years from now, who knows where we will be?
Thank you for liking my blog post #BlogFlash2013 Day 11: Running .
It will be something amazing no doubt about that. We do live in one of the most interesting times in our known history. I really do appreciate you stopping by and hope you return. Thanks Cari
Of course, anytime!
Coming along timed to keep Moore’s Law functional, no doubt…and now we hear graphene can be used to handle light as well as electrons. I’m awaiting the news that it can also serve drinks…
Great article Drew. I love science, we truly live in a golden era. Thanks for sharing.
mush appreciated. i absolutely love the science world, and all the new discoveries happening daily.
An amazing blog thank`s for the info. It wasn`t long ago when it was just science fiction.
Thank You for the the appreciation of my blog. I hope you continue to enjoy the content I will pump out daily. Take Care
You explain things so well!
Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind words.
It’s not so long ago that graphene was sprung upon us, and now they’re doing magic with it. Hell, I remember thermionic valves and relays …
thank you for the comment my friend. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Sounds pretty interesting and exciting though I do not understand how it works. Thank you for visiting my blog.
if you are interested ou can read more through google of course. it is something that seems will change our technologies.
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My husband is always banging on about graphene – he’ll love this post!
your husband is a smart man. make sure to show him this., i appreciate your time and the comment. please feel free to come back.
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I’m going to follow you to find out more about this!,Thank U
thank you for the follow my friend. graphene is an amazing development and will definitely be the game changer in the solar market. this will make it much more affordable for mass production with an affordable price.
yea i like this.
I thought communication and computerization would be hand held by 2015, that was 20yrs ago. This tech will be fundamental in the transition which eliminates the HD.
Very interesting!!!
I agree
This is remarkable. Just when we think we are beginning to find the limits of small and fast, a discovery like this comes along to change the game entirely. Who knows where the limits are? Science fiction will become a reality sooner than any of us anticipated.
Nice post! And thanks for visiting my blog
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Wow! I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of graphene, much less what it can do. Sheets of material one atom thick? And I wouldn’t have known about it at all if you hadn’t popped up. Thanks.
amazing stuff right? just think where we will be in 5 years lol. quite the crazy thought if u ask me. appreciate you stopping in. feel free stop stop by always
Keep the good work up, you’re going places with this!.
Thank you very much my friend. appreciate you stopping in and hoppe you return.
Love learning about new technology. This is very cool stuff, and I can’t wait to see it implemented on a large scale.
it is an amazing advancement in our technology. appreciate your interest and enjoy the blog. please return
Thank, this is a cool place.
appreciate that for real. i am aiming to keeping this a informative but fun and interesting place for people of like mind to enjoy. i am open to all ideas and love to question everything so nothings off the table. stay tuned my friend
excellent post. The decrease in power consumption will prove to be even more advantageous than the increase in speed. I cannot wait to see where this goes in the next 10 to 20 yrs.
give it 5 years and see where this is. technology grows exponetially at an incredible rate. we live in amazing times! thank you for the comment and stopping in. grateful
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Rebecca
you are very welcome rebecca. appreciate you stopping in and commenting.
I had never heard of graphene until now. It looks like it has much potential and I hope it gets put to good use. thanks for the enlightenment.
appreciate you dropping by and learning something from my site. i hope you return as information like this won;t stop.
Interesting… Will we be hearing more about graphene in the near future? It’s relatively unknown now…
Site looks good, thanks
appreciate the comment my friend. i have been working hard at it.
We will soon enter the Star Trek phase of technology and our eye wear will incorporate our cell phones, and GPS will be activated just by a simple command and looking in the direction that you want to go.
This was a very technical post. It would be great to have faster transistors, and faster of everything, but I think the public needs to be fully educated on how to use the current technology first. The population as a whole does not really understand the mechanics of their computers yet when synced to a work network. Still though, this technology is fascinating, and I look forward to hearing more of what you have to say about it.
Interesting, for sure. I wasn’t aware.
This is very interesting, especially to someone like me (who hails from a family of electricians). How do you, Drew, see this affecting technology in the near future? I have to wonder if in a few decades, silicon transistors will be as obsolete as floppy disks. Can you see graphene being used in computers soon, or are we still years away from that?
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Thanks for being on the cutting edge of technology!
you r very welcome. appreciate your time and visiting my site. hope you return
A great article!!!
thank you very much. appreciate you enjoying the blog stop by for more
Great post! I dream of the day when these great minds can lead us to hyperspace, wormholes and parallel worlds… Thanks for sharing…
I hope to see it in our life time. I am sure some drastic discoveries will be made. we do live in some amazing times, with some even more incredible minds.
Appreciate your engaging comment. please come back as I will have many more articles like this.
Wow…totally impressive concepts.
thank you, it’s a good post
Thank you for visiting my blog today. I appreciate the time you took to stop by. May your day be filled with joy and peace.
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i appreciate your kind words. your post on the war memorial was very well done. the video was very touching appreciate you time and efforts my friend.
Good post. Carry on.
nice post
Great post, graphene blows my mind! So exciting to live in our world today!
Hi and thanks for stopping by my blog and liking several of my posts. I always enjoy and appreciate when someone takes the time to do that, plus it helps guide me to what others are writing about. I love hearing about advances in technology that could make life easier and be better for the environment, so I found this post of yours intriguing. Thanks for sharing!
i enjoyed your site greatly. i have been studying abundance and manifestation for only 6 short motnhs but have been very consistent with the studying. it is truly amazing what is apossible. appreciate you enjoying my content as well. please return
it is a great product but you know that some self motivator will need to start using this on a larger scale. Those in oil won’t. Good blog. thank you!:)
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My father made a computer to run
an organ console in our living room. Huge windows facing Mt. Hood. My dad was also an MD. He taught me that the brain was a computer. I took into my own thought that we automatically make machines to be… like us. He was making via parathenogenesis a whole goddam theatre pipe organ.
The pipes were in the attic. We had a 5500 sq ft house with roofing like a Shinto temple. I pulled a Siddhartha and denied the wealth. It was my father’s.
He would have liked this article very much!
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So my father, after assembling the organ to operation, put it on MIDI and it existed as an automaton. Then my dad had a stroke. They dismantled the organ.
Then he passed 2 years later. The man who told me WE are computers had his power cut off. He sleeps. Heh heh. Forgive me if I’m “out there” but I cannot think of anything more wizard, practicle, metaphysical than computers, energy etc. My God, even my cell phone is better than ANY & ALL toys I’ve ever had. Its my AI fake friend. Hahah
nothing is too out there for this website my friend. you are welcome to leave any idea thought to be crazy by others. i am no one to judge anyone’s opinion. thank you for your story and the interaction with the site. i hope you return.
It’s great and scary to see such a huge leap in chip technology right on the horizon. It’s another step toward computing becoming super cheap and fast.
no need to be scared. technology is an amazing thing
I love the faster, faster, smaller, smaller aspect of technology – I’m a big fan! And thank you for being a fan of Newbie Writers Guide!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my posts. This is a great near future tech, are you planning on “building” anything with it? Imagine the possibilities…
First, thanks for liking my site The Climax papers. It’s a sci-fi series that will be updated regularly. I loved this piece on graphene, it gave me some ideas.
Amazing stuff!
Thank you for following me. Your article on graphene is informative and way over my head. My husband just informed me that graphene can be used to make solar cells. The scientists who discovered it received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Good stuff, to think this is all made from pencil dust.
It is something crazy to try and wrap your head around at first sight. Appreciate you dropping by and enjoying the article. Please return
Thanks for sharing this post!