Scientists produce artificial graphene
Professor of physics and director of the Artificial Quantum Materials Laboratory at the University of Arkensas, USA, Jak Chakhalian was selected as a quantum materials investigator for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2014. Now a revolutionary artificial version of graphene is set to lead to numerous faster, smaller and lighter electronic and optical applications based on the continually impressive ‘wonder material’.
“We’ve basically created the first artificial graphene-like structure with transition metal atoms in place of carbon atoms,” Chakhalian said. “This work opens the door to devices based on junctions of correlated electronic materials beyond our current semiconductor devices.”
Leading an international team of scientists, Chakhalian’s report, ‘Mott Electrons in an Artificial Graphene-like Crystal of Rare Earth Nickelate’, was published yesterday in Physical Review Letters, the journal of the American Physical Society.
Graphene, because it is composed of carbon, is more abundant in Nature than its predecessor silicone, meaning that after the establishment of technology suitable for the mass production of it, the total costs of electronic chip manufacture will decrease.
