Future For Graphene

A remarkable material called Graphene could soon be used to make flexible and transparent high-speed electronics. Graphene's incredible mechanical and electronic properties are well known, but it is difficult to make it in bulk. It consists of thick layers of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons. The transparent samples can be fixed to any surface and bent or twisted without damaging them. When the technique is perfected, such films could be used in solar cells as well as any number of bendy, thin, transparent gadgetry, such as crystal-clear, flexible displays.

First discovered in 2004, Graphene is a close cousin of carbon nanotubes, which are in effect Graphene, rolled up. Tiny, high-quality samples of Graphene can be sourced by using sticky tape to simply pull them off graphite - the same stuff that is in a pencil lead. Transistors made from such samples have been shown to operate at gigahertz frequencies - comparable to the speed of modern computers. The material could theoretically operate near terahertz frequencies, hundreds of times faster. The samples also have remarkable mechanical strength, because the bond that carbon atoms form between themselves is one of the strongest known.