Engineers find a simple yet clever way to boost chip speeds

Phys.Org ^ | 06-17-2015 | Provided by Stanford University

[Red Badger]

Tech Ping!....................

[ShadowAce]

[RayChuang88]

Indeed, graphene could be the material that could make it possible for a tremendous leap up in the storage density of lithium-ion batteries. That could mean cellphones with three times the battery life per charge compared to now.

[bigbob]

and that can download pron 10 times as fast!

[Red Badger]

There’s another group working on a battery that charges just by placing it in a light source, indoor or out.....................

[HandyDandy]

The stuff is an isolator and a conductor. That’s odd.

[Jonty30]

So I’ll be able to use my cellphone for a full hour?

Wow!

[Paladin2]

NOT an Insulator.

[BipolarBob]

What is the Minimum Recommended Daily requirement of pron up to these days?

[Red Badger]

Here’s what I think is happening:

Copper exhibits what is called ‘skin effect’ at high frequencies, where the primary conduction of the signal is along the outer layer of the conductor.

The Graphene is coating the outer layer of the copper so it enhances the conduction of the copper wire’s skin effect, by Ohm’s Law, where two conductors in parallel will have a lower resistance that either one of them singularly.

This would in effect be electrically shortening the paths so the signals could be of higher frequency than with copper coated with tantalum nitride ..............

[tacticalogic]

The stuff is an isolator and a conductor. That’s odd.

I read about some research IBM was doing using a thin layer of diamond as the chip substrate. Seems diamond has the rather unique properties of being simultaneously an electrical insulator and a heat conductor.

[AZLiberty]

A physical isolator, not an electrical insulator. It prevents the migration of copper atoms from the wires into the silicon substrate, where it would contaminate the silicon and render it dysfunctional.

[ETL]

Some of this technology is as awe-inspiring and mysterious as the brain itself.

...well, getting closer anyway.

[RayChuang88]

I think you need to retire your cellphone if your battery life per charge is that short now....

[pepsi_junkie]

Sounds promising. If it really is a revolutionary technology then the environmentalists will need to start their demonization campaign right away.

[Husker24]

Why not ditch the copper and just use graphine alone?

[Moonman62]

The Stanford researchers think the promise of faster computing will induce other researchers to get interested in wires, and help to overcome some of the hurdles needed to take this proof of principle into common practice.

...

I see they save the most important sentence for last. Most likely we won’t see this anytime soon, if ever.

[MosesKnows]

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a strong yet thin lattice.

Which country has the largest surplus of grapheme?

How much does graphene cost?

Is graphene sold by the pound or by the atom?

[Red Badger]

It doesn’t bond well to silicon, IIRC.................