The Wonderful Material That Will Change
the World of Electronics
The amazing properties of graphene have researchers, students, and inventors dreaming about exciting new applications, from unbreakable touchscreens to fast-charging batteries.
By Wisse Hettinga
Prosthetic hand with graphene electrodes
Graphene gained popularity because of the way it is produced—the “Scotch tape method.” In fact, two scientists, Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, received a Nobel Prize in 2004 for their work with the material. Their approach is straightforward. Using Scotch tape, they repeatedly removed small layers of graphite (indeed, the black stuff found in pencils) until there was only one 2-D layer of atoms left—graphene. Up to that point, many scientists understood the promise of this wonderful material, but no one had been able to get obtain a single layer of atoms. After the breakthrough, many universities started looking for graphene-related applications.
Innovative graphene-related research is underway all over the world. Today, many European institutes and universities work together under the Graphene Flagship initiative (http://graphene-flagship.eu), which was launched by the European Union in 2009. The initiative’s aim is to exchange knowledge and collaborate on research projects.
Graphene was a hot topic at the 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. This article covers a select number of applications talked about at the show. But for the complete coverage, check out the video here:
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WEARABLE SENSORS FOR PROSTHETICS
The Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genova, Italy, recently developed a sensor from a cellulose and graphene composite. The sensor can be made in the form of a bracelet that fits around the arm in order to pick up the small signals associated with muscle movement. The signals are processed and used to drive a robotic prosthetic hand. Once the comfortable bracelet is placed on the wrist, it transduces the movement of the hand into electrical signals that are used to move the artificial hand in a spectacular way. More information: www.iit.it
GRAPHENE & CONVENTIONAL CMOS TECHNOLOGIES
The Scotch tape method used by the Nobel Prize winners inspired a lot of companies around the world to start producing graphene. Today, a wide variety of methods can be used depending on the actual application of the material. Graphenea (San Sebastian, Spain) is using different processes for the production of graphene products. One of them is Chemical Vapor Deposition. With this method, it is possible to create graphene on thin foil, silicon based or in form of oxide. They source many universities and research institutes that do R&D for new components such as supercapacitors, solar, batteries, and many more applications. The big challenge is to develop an industrial process that will combine graphene material with the conventional CMOS technology. In this way, the characteristics of graphene can enhance today’s components to make them useful for new applications. A good example is optical datatransfer. More information: www.graphenea.com
Transfer graphene on top of a silicon device to add more functionality
T5G DATA COMMUNICATION
High-speed data communication comes in all sizes and infrastructures. But on the small scale, there are many challenges. Graphene enables new optical communication on the chip level. A consortium of CNIT, Ericsson, Nokia, and IMEC have developed graphene photonics integration for high-speed transmission systems. At MWC, they showcased a packaged graphene-based modulator operating over several optical telecommunications bands. I saw the first package transmitters with optical modulators based on graphene. The modulator is only one-tenth of a millimeter. The transfer capacity is 10 Gbps, but the aim is to bring that to 100 Gbps in a year’s time. The applications will be able to play a key role in the development of 5G technology. More information: www.cnit.it/en/.
Optical modulator based on graphene technology
THE ART OF HEATING
FGV Cambridge Nanosystems recently developed a novel “spray-on” graphene heating system that provides uniform, large-area heating. The material can be applied to paintings or walls and turned into a ‘heating’ area that can be wirelessly controlled via a mobile app. The same methodology can also double as a temperature sensor, where you can control light intensity by sensing body temperature. More information: www.cambridgenanosystems.com
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Graphene-based heater
FOAM SENSOR FOR SHOES
Atheletes can benefit from light, strong, sensor-based shoes that that can monitor their status. To make this happen, the University of Cambridge developed a 3-D printed shoe with embedded graphene foam sensors that can monitor the pressure applied. They combine complicated structural design with accurate sensing function. The graphene foam sensor can be used for measuring the number of steps and the weight of the person. More information: www.cam.ac.uk
Graphene pressure sensors embedded in shoes
FLEXIBLE WI-FI RECEIVER
More wireless fidelity can be expected when graphene-based receivers come into play. The receivers based on graphene are small and flexible and can be used for integration into clothes and other textile applications. AMO GmbH and RWTH Aachen University are developing the first flexible Wi-Fi receiver. The underlying graphene MMIC process enables the fabrication of the Wi-Fi receiver on both flexible and rigid substrates. This flexible Wi-Fi receiver is the first graphene-based front-end receiver for any type of modulated signal. The research shows that this technology can be used up to 90 GHz, which opens it up to new applications in IoT and mobile phones. More information: www.amo.de
Using graphene in flexible Wi-Fi receiver
5″ DISPLAY WITH UP TO 12K RESOLUTION
Santiago Cartamil-Bueno, a PhD student at TU Delft, was the first to observe a change in colors of small graphene “balloons.” These balloons appear when pressure is applied in a double layer of graphene. When this graphene is placed over silicon with small indents, the balloons can move in and out the silicon dents. If the graphene layer is closer to the silicon, they turn blue. If it is farther away from the silicon, they will turn red. Santiago observed this effect first and is researching the possibilities to turn this effect into high-resolution display. It uses the light from the environment and turns it into a very low-power consumption process. The resolution is very high; a typical 5″ display would be able to show images with 8K to 12K resolution. More information:
www.delta.tudelft.nl/artikel/ballooning-graphene-may-be-used-as-pixel/32619
Circuit Cellar's editorial team comprises professional engineers, technical editors, and digital media specialists. You can reach the Editorial Department at editorial@circuitcellar.com, @circuitcellar, and facebook.com/circuitcellar
