Semiconducting graphene allows transistor creation in step toward silicon chip integration

Well-ordered semiconducting graphene with a bandgap has been grown on the surface of silicon carbide has by researchers in China and the US . The team was then able to make use of this unusual combination of properties in graphene to produce a transistor. The work could lead to direct integration between silicon electronics and high-power circuitry.

Physicists have for years attempted to put the remarkable electronic mobility of graphene to use in next-generation electronics, but have been persistently hamstrung by the complete absence of a bandgap. This means that, in the transistor – the fundamental component of the digital electronic circuit – the current would flow incredibly fast in the on state, but it is impossible to turn it off. They are therefore experimenting with other 2D materials such as molybdenum sulfide that have bandgaps, but much lower electronic mobilities.