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Graphene Research Could Totally Transform Technologies

  • Published
  • By Dr. John Boeckl
  • Materials and Manufacturing
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Air Force Research Laboratory research on graphene, a recently discovered form of carbon, has made a significant contribution to materials development of carbon-based electronics. These efforts improved the understanding of the growth process for both graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on silicon carbide.

Researchers predict that graphene will be as transformative as the television, atomic bomb, and silicon chip. It has the potential for enormous impact on Air Force capabilities, such as enabling band-hopping radar and leading to radio frequency semiconductors that are 100 times faster than the current state-of-the-art. Graphene may lead to the production of lighter aircraft and satellites, and may be used in sensors, electric batteries, transparent conductive coatings for solar cells, and in a variety of other applications.

Graphene's structure is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms, most easily visualized as an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms at the crossing points and strong covalent bonds connecting them. The crystalline or "flake" form, graphite, consists of many graphene sheets weakly stacked together. A stack of three million graphene sheets would be only one millimeter thick. Graphene exhibits the highest conductivity and other intriguing properties and has been widely popularized as the successor to silicon.

AFRL researchers improved the understanding of the graphene growth process on silicon carbide (SiC) and demonstrated the important catalytic role of oxygen in this process. They enabled metal-free growth of both CNTs and graphene on SiC substrates, improving the purity by an order of magnitude and enhancing the quality of in-house grown graphene.

Researchers at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering proved that graphene is the strongest material ever measured. It's also the thinnest possible material that is feasible; about 200 times stronger than steel; and it conducts electricity better than any material known to man - at room temperature.

The development of graphene transistors (to replace silicon) may result in faster speeds and improvements in computer chips. Other potential applications include replacement of carbon fibers in composite materials, high-power high-frequency electronic devices, stronger medical implants and better sports equipment.

While the Air Force is focusing on potential electronics applications, many other commercial and medical uses could be possible. These include transparent touch screen devices, special biocompatible films for surgery of traumatic brain injuries, faster transistors in personal computers, or thin materials for solar energy harvesting.