The first graphene-only integrated circuit was created by International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) three years ago. However, this was not a complete breakthrough because they used largely silicon and metal for much of the hardware. University of California Santa Barbara has made a crucial discovery that involves designing an integrated circuit completely from graphene only. This new model is based on the fact that graphene displays different qualities depending on its pattern, i.e. a wide ribbon displays metallic qualities while a narrow ribbon displays semiconductor properties. If chips would be designed this way then they would be much thinner, efficient and easier to assemble as compared to the ones made with mixed material. Currently a graphene Integrated Circuit is a theoretical computer model yet to be practically made; there are no plans to produce graphene chips at the moment, therefore this could take some time to see.

Graphene Integrated Circuit – Super computer

As scientists continue to improve silicon based ICs (which involves fashioning smaller transistors onto a chip, reducing power consumption and increasing its performance) they face challenges of contact resistance. This is resistance that builds up when components conducting electricity get in touch with each other. This may not be a problem for a single component, but when there are millions of transistors and interconnects on a chip, the combined energy is a major concern.

As a designer fuses various small components onto silicon chips, more complications emerge. This is where graphene overcomes silicon. While silicon is purely a semiconductor, graphene has both conductor and semi conductor qualities. Therefore, it can act as a metal conductor and as a semi conductor just like silicon. Due to these two major qualities of graphene, a designer can fashion the entire IC onto a graphene sheet and successfully do away with any contact resistance.

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Given the impending bottleneck of supply in indium tin oxide, a material currently used as a transparent conducting film, researchers are now focusing their attention on graphene as a cheaper alternative since it has ideal properties for this purpose.

Photo-voltaic manufacturers have taken little interest in using graphene as a replacement of indium tin oxide as a transparent conducting film, even when graphene has the highest potential of filling this looming gap. This lack of interest has been partly due to little research into what happens to graphene’s attractive conductivity when used together with silicon.

This, however, will change now that researchers have found out that graphene does not lose its remarkable properties when used together with silicon.

Graphene and Silicon Solar Cell

Researchers had revealed that when graphene is incorporated into a pile of layers, same a thin film solar cell based on silicon, the material does not significantly change its conductive properties as initially feared.

The researchers used a process of chemical vapor deposition to grow the graphene on a copper sheet, transferred it to a substrate made from glass, and then covered it with a thin film made from silicon. The researchers experimented with different morphologies of silicon and found out that graphene maintained its conductive properties in all cases. Graphene still retains its properties, even when coated with silicon with different characteristics.

The conductive properties of graphene, when measured, exceeded most materials. For instance, its carrier mobility is 30 times higher than that of the conventional contact layers based on zinc oxide. Despite the fact that it is difficult to use contact layers made from graphene with external contacts, the prospects have attracted interest all over the world. Already, thin film technology enthusiasts have invested in incorporating this development in their work.

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