Sam Shead

Graphene transistors could herald more computing power

News

Graphene transistors made at Manchester University could lead to a new generation of more powerful computers.

The newly developed graphene transistors could ultimately replace silicon in computer chips. Furthermore, the transistors could be made at the nanoscale, which would allow chip manufacturers to incorporate more transistors into their chips, thus making them more powerful.

‘The main benefit of using graphene to make transistors is that you can aggressively scale down the size — probably down to 10–15 atoms across,’ said Dr Leonid Ponomarenko who led the experimental effort at Manchester University.

Silicon, unlike graphene, is very good at alternating between different states of electrical conductivity, which is an important characteristic for effective transistors.

The difference between electrical states is called the on/off ratio and in the case of graphene the ratio isn’t very high. This means that graphene continues to conduct a lot of electronics in its ‘off’ state.  

Ponomarenko explained that the transistor’s on/off ratio needs to be as large as possible, otherwise electrical current will leak through and waste energy.

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