IBM moves graphene closer to production
IBM researchers will deliver a paper at the forthcoming International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) that outlines a 'significant step' in moving graphene towards being a manufacturable technology.
A major obstacle with graphene is the difficulty of building a gate dielectric on its inherently inert surface. However, graphene layers can grown by controlled vapour deposition and transferred to different substrates. IBM's team created 200mm silicon wafers with predefined embedded gate structures, then added prebuilt graphene layers on top of them.
The proof of concept circuit is a frequency doubler, which demonstrated a conversion gain of about -25dB at an output frequency of 2GHz. Performance was said to be 'nearly constant' from 25 to 200°C, indicating that n- and p-transconductance is temperature independent in this range.
This year's IEDM takes place in Washington, DC, from 5 to 7 December. For more information, go to www.ieee-iedm.org
