A multi-institutional team of scientists developed a method for producing graphene nanoribbons that could make electronic devices run far more efficiently.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the new study aims to help nanoribbon manufacturers to produce the graphene easier. Difficulty in getting the materials onto the nanoribbons is a leading reason why the technology has not already been widely implemented in current devices.
"Graphene nanoribbons that can be grown directly on the surface of a semiconductor like germanium are more compatible with planar processing that's used in the semiconductor industry, and so there would be less of a barrier to integrating these really excellent materials into electronics in the future," study co-author Michael Arnold, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a press release.
Graphene has the thickness of an atom, but is much more efficient in producing electricity than silicon is. As devices like smartphones, tablets and such get more and more advanced, graphene nanoribbons could well become necessary.
"What we've discovered is that when graphene grows on germanium, it naturally forms nanoribbons with these very smooth, armchair edges," Arnold said in the release. "The widths can be very, very narrow and the lengths of the ribbons can be very long, so all the desirable features we want in graphene nanoribbons are happening automatically with this technique."
