Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have made a rather interesting accidental discovery about the electrical properties of graphene, a lattice-like arrangement of carbon atoms that has been tapped as a potential replacement for silicon in future microprocessors. Graphene's high conductivity makes it particularly attractive for such applications, but the lack of a "band gap," which would allow transistors to be turned off, presents a challenge.
When layering three graphene sheets, the researchers observed a dramatic change in the electrical properties of the material. Shifting the alignment of the top layer in the three-sheet stack by just one atom transformed the material from a conductor to an insulator, effectively creating a band gap that is now the ...
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techreport/all/~3/GhQUXfKABlo/21723
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