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Graphene 'Big Mac' — One Step Closer To Microchips
RogerRoast writes "Scientists at the University of Manchester have come one step closer to creating the next generation of computer chips using graphene. By sandwiching two sheets of graphene with another two-dimensional material, boron nitrate, the team created the graphene 'Big Mac' – a four-layered structure which could be the key to replacing the silicon chip in computers. The research results were published in Nature Physics (abstract; full version paywalled)."
. . . but boron nitride. I'm also worried by the fact that I knew our summary was wrong without even looking at the abstract.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.0115
While in the more comman usage of the term, it would seem that a two-dimensional material cannot exist in space, graphene has a "two-dimensional" atomic structure, making a single atom layer possible. Of course if that thickness isn't zero, it means there are still three dimensions, but it's still a common terminalogy, for whatever reason.
Someone who knows nuclear physics should comment this:
Boron has a large cross section for neutron capture, graphite on the other hand is used as a neutron moderator. Is it possible that graphene-boron nitride is also the optimal neutron shielding material?
So. When will someone plug a graphene cpu into a motherboard?
The first transistor was invented in 1925. The first integrated circuit was developed in 1958. That's 33 years. The first commercially available microprocessor was available in 1970, that's another 12 years. And you complain because of just seven years?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
What do you think happens to the boron when it captures a neutron? It gives off an alpha particle and changes to lithium. Your neutron shielding material would disintegrate very rapidly indeed.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
It's not so simple, I don't think that your analogy is entirely correct. The developments required for the introduction of first commercial microprocessor were vast and most of that knowledge is still relevant or new ideas were built upon it. We already have most of the technological and scientifc knowledge so the leap needed to manufacture graphene chip is much smaller than in case of silicon.
Graphene is referred to as being "two dimensional" because the thickness is typically controlled to one atomic layer thick along the z axis, while it extends infinitely (comparatively) along the x and y axes.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
This would be the McDouble of computer chips.
So. When will someone plug a graphene cpu into a motherboard?
When they work out the bits about adding special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions and sesame seeds. TFSummary is honest enough to say "one step closer."
Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
Lots of people like molten boron oxide. It is the best flux that there is for brazing. Hand made bicycle frames, upmarket plumbing fixtures, a whole lot of things go together better with a little boric acid.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
I was expecting a new, huge Apple product in non-white colors, or some funky flavored McD's sandwich. The article was still pretty cool, though.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
please note that graphene is (always, not "typically") exactly one atom thick (otherwise it's just a plain chip of graphite). It is because it is exactly one atom thick that it has the interesting properties.
new sig
Incorrect. Aromatic stacking forces make bulk (ie very thick sheets) graphene incredibly strong. It is nothing like graphite, which is composed mostly of amorphous carbon and is full of irregularities.
"...[A] four-layered structure"?!?
Seriously?
Everyone knows a Big Mac has five layers. What they created was a McDouble. Or, if you're in California and parts of Arizona, a Double Double.
I'm not sure a transistor which relies on low temperature (as in, liquid nitrogen) effects to achieve an off state is actually a viable technology.
Graphene is a wonderful material, but so far the only thing graphene is useful for is an academic research career. We (meaning nano researchers) really need to start being honest with the general media about applications. It's not ok to produce a device to measure a low temperature self-organization effect, then tell the media it's actually a prototype transistor. It's simply not true.
The transistor was developed in 1947. If you're going to say that the transistor was invented in 1925 then you should also say that graphene was invented 1962. It wasn't until the late forties that they actually created a transistor just like it wasn't until 7 years ago that graphene was actually created.