OSU Researchers Develop Technique to Mass Produce Fast Computer Chips

Engineers at OSU are developing new techniques for mass producing computer chips for use in smaller, faster electronics. The technique utilizes graphene, the same material found in pencils, stamped in multiple sheets onto a substrate in precise locations. 

“Graphene has been dubbed ‘the new silicon,’” says Nitin Padture, director of OSU’s Center for Emergent Materials. He says until now there has not been a good process for high-throughput manufacturing of graphene into chips. He says that the technique developed by he and his colleagues is the proof-of-concept needed to allow this high throughput. 

Graphene is considered a viable material for such electronics manufacturing because it has several unique properties including high mobility which allows electrons to pass through it very quickly. This is key in developing fast electronics. Although graphene offers many possibilities for development of new kinds of electronics, the challenge has traditionally been the use of the material in mass production. Padture and his colleagues believe they have found a technique for making such mass production possible. 

Padture is a distinguished professor in Materials Science and Engineering in the OSU College of Engineering. He co-authored a paper on the new process with Dongsheng Li, postdoctoral researcher and Wolfgang Windl, associate professor of materials science and engineering, which was published in a recent issue of the journal, Advanced Materials.”

For details, see the release from OSU: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/graphstamp.htm