Scientists create the first functional semiconductor from graphene (video)
Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology claim to have created “the world’s first functional semiconductor made of graphene.” The epitaxial graphene they created is compatible with traditional methods of microelectronics production, so it can be considered a real alternative to silicon.
Technological experts constantly point out the need to preserve the possibility of using Moore’s Law in the production of electronics. However, one of the key challenges facing those driving the semiconductor industry forward is that the physical properties of silicon are approaching their limits. On the other hand, graphene has been constantly touted as a miracle material since its discovery in 2004, designed to solve all the problems associated with semiconductor production in the future. However, attempts to use it have not yet resulted in any significant or widespread technological breakthrough. However, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology seem to have made a significant step forward in this regard by combining purified epitaxial graphene with silicon carbide in a semiconductor.
The study is being conducted by a group of scientists from the United States and China under the leadership of Walter de Heer, a professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. De Heer has been working on 2D graphene technologies since the early 2000s.
“We were motivated by the hope of introducing three special properties of graphene into electronics. It is an extremely strong material that can withstand very high currents without heating up or breaking down,” the scientist comments.
However, despite these three properties, the key semiconductor characteristic in graphene-based materials has been missing until now. “A long-standing problem in graphene electronics is that graphene does not have the right band gap and cannot be switched on and off, that is, change from one state to another, with the right ratio,” says nanoparticle and nanosystems specialist Dr. Lei Ma, a de Heer’s colleague from the Tianjin University International Center, who is also a co-author of the paper “Ultra-high mobility semiconductor epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide” published in the journal Nature.
The researchers explain that they have found a way to grow graphene on silicon carbide wafers using special furnaces, resulting in epitaxial graphene combined with silicon carbide. According to the official blog of the Georgia Institute of Technology, it took a decade to perfect this material. His current tests show that the graphene-based semiconductor material demonstrates ten times the electron mobility of silicon.
“In other words, the electrons in the material move with very low resistance, which in electronics leads to faster computing,” the institute’s press release explains.
De Heer explains the attractive properties of graphene-based electronics in simpler terms: “It’s like driving on a freeway instead of a gravel road. It [graphene-based material] is more efficient, doesn’t heat up as much, and allows electrons to reach higher speeds.”
According to the scientists, their epitaxial graphene combined with silicon carbide is far superior to any other 2D semiconductors under development. Prof. de Heer characterized his group’s breakthrough in semiconductor materials as a “Wright Brothers moment” and emphasized the material’s compatibility with the quantum mechanical wave properties of electrons. In other words, it can play an important role in future advances in quantum computing.
