IBM Redefines the Standard Chip Concept with Graphene

Research Engineers at IBM have built the fastest graphene-based chip ever made. The new breed has the potential to perform 10,000 times faster than the usual graphene Integrated Circuits.

What has made this possible is a new manufacturing technique through which the graphene can be deposited directly on to the chip without damaging it. If it wasn’t for the IBM Researchers, this would not have been possible.  The new method is compliant to the standard CMOS processes.

It is actually a silicon chip built on standard 200 mm silicon wafer through the usual CMOS fabrication process. It is a Radio Frequency Receiver, containing all the necessary ingredients including resistors, capacitors and transistors. The only difference is that the transistor channels are made up of graphene.

Although there have been attempts to create graphene field-effect transistors, but none of them succeeded due to the fragile nature of the graphene material. To protect from the damage, IBM researchers have altered the procedures a bit, building the secondary components first and finally depositing a layer of graphene over the chip.

The innovation is indeed a breakthrough as we move nearer to have commercial graphene computer chips that could enhance the performance levels to newer heights.