Graphene could speed up computers

Independent : Cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices could run much faster if they were made with graphene, the world’s thinnest material. Writing in the journal Nature Physics, Nobel laureates Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov from Manchester University, and their coworkers, have revealed more about graphene’s electronic properties. They have found that electrons in graphene are very different from those in any other metals and that interactions between them significantly enhance their already high velocity. Because electrons travel many times faster in graphene than in silicon, which is the basis of modern computer chips, graphene could possibly be used to drastically speed up electronic devices. “Electrons in graphene have huge mobility; they travel very fast. It’s quite a big result in terms of the physics, and it may have some implications in terms of potential applications,” Novoselov said.