RIVERSIDE, Calif., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists have found graphene -- a thin sheet of carbon atoms -- has potential to supplement or replace silicon as an electronic material.
University of California-Riverside scientists demonstrated that graphene -- a 1-atom thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings -- can act as an atomic-scale billiard table, with electric charges acting as billiard balls.
The researchers said their finding underscores graphene’s potential for serving as an excellent electronic material, such as silicon, that can be used to develop new kinds of transistors based on quantum physics.
Because they encounter no obstacles, the electrons in graphene roam freely across the sheet of carbon, conducting electric charge with extremely low resistance.
The study that included Assistant Professor Chun Ning Lau, Feng, Sithara Wijeratne, Wenzhong Bao, Yong Zhang and Ulas Coskun appears in the journal Science.
