Silicon Out, Graphene In?Physicists at the University of Maryland have shown that graphene, a sheet of graphite a single atom thick, can conduct electricity at room temperature better than any other known material, including silicon.
Electrons can travel up to 100 times faster through graphene than silicon, making it perfect for the next generation of computer chips and sensors.
But it doesn’t end at that. Graphene also has a smaller resistivity than copper, providing 35% less opposition to the flow of electric current. That would make it the lowest resistivity material as well. However, impurities in graphene make copper better at transferring electrons at the moment. With some refinement, though, we could see graphene overtake copper.
It looks like graphene is just about set to replace silicon in computer chips. The only question left is: where will Graphene Valley be?
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