14 DAY TRIAL // In a groundbreaking new discovery, a team of investigators managed to develop a new technique for producing graphene-based transistors and nanoelectronics, which relies on the use of simple water for tuning the material's band gap.
Developing methods of doing this is of paramount importance for the electronics industry, which is relying on this material as the next big thing. Graphene is a carbon compound.
The material has peculiar physical and chemical properties, that ensure it can be used in a wide array of practical applications. It is the strongest material ever created, all while being two-dimensional.
Graphene has a hexagonal, honeycomb-like structures, which allows it to conduct electricity efficiently.
In the new investigations effort, the science team at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) was trying to find a quick and easy way of changing graphene's band gap, and found that this could be achieved by simply exposing the material to humidity.
The research was led by RPI professor Nikhil Koratkar, who discovered that producing a band gap is totally doable in this carbon compound. He says that this was a critical prerequisite to creating graphene transistors and other electronic components.
At this point, most electronic devices in the world contain transistors, tiny switches that can be set as “on” or “off,” allowing or stopping electricity from flowing through them.
Generally, they are made out of the semiconducting material silicon, which has been the norm in the industry for decades. Graphene is meant to be a successor for this “aging” chemicals, scientists say.
“Graphene is prized for its unique and attractive mechanical properties,” the RPI professor explains.
“But if you were to build a transistor using graphene, it simply wouldn’t work as graphene acts like a semi-metal and has zero band gap,” Koratkar goes on to say.
The scientist also holds an appointment as a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at the Institute.
“In this study, we demonstrated a relatively easy method for giving graphene a band gap. This could open the door to using graphene for a new generation of transistors, diodes, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and other applications,” the team leader adds.
Details of the new investigation appear in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Small, in a paper entitled “Tunable Band gap in Graphene by the Controlled Adsorbtion of Water Molecules.”
“Others have shown how to create a band gap in graphene by adsorbing different gases to its surface, but this is the first time it has been done with water,” the expert reveals.
“The advantage of water absorption, compared to gases, is that it is inexpensive, nontoxic, and much easier to control in a chip application,” he concludes.