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A typical computer chip includes millions of transistors connected with an extensive network of copper wires. Although chip wires are unimaginably short and thin compared to household wires both have one thing in common: in each case the copper is wrapped within a protective sheath. For years a material called tantalum nitride has formed protective layer in chip wires.
Now Stanford-led experiments demonstrate that a different sheathing material, graphene, can help electrons scoot through tiny copper wires in chips more quickly.
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a strong yet thin lattice. Stanford electrical engineer H.-S. Philip Wong says this modest fix, using graphene to wrap wires, could allow transistors to exchange data faster than is currently possible. And the advantages of using graphene would become greater in the future as transistors continue to shrink.
"Researchers have made tremendous advances on all of the other components in chips but recently, there hasn't been much progress on improving the performance of the wires," he said.
http://phys.org/news/2015-06-simple-clever-boost-chip.html
Original Submission
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 19 2015, @07:38PM
a carbon nanotube? So "they put wire inside a carbon nanotube" is old fashioned but referring to graphene is trendy.
If I'm wrong, please illuminate the difference between the two. Seriously - I'm not a physicist or chemist and would be interested.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by ese002 on Friday June 19 2015, @09:43PM
They are not making nanotubes. They may not be making tubes at all. It sounds like they are depositing graphene to line the channel and then depositing copper. The top would still be open at this stage. In principle, they could apply another layer of graphene on top making it rough tube but the motivation to do that is not obvious. The next process step would be to lay down an insulating material. It may not be necessary to protect this insulator from the copper.
Nanotubes are just as trendy as graphene but it is very hard to control their length and orientation. They are also very narrow. Even you could somehow get copper in the middle and tubes of the right length and orientation, you would need to gang multiple/many tubes together to get conductor large enough to carry the current.
I think the better question is: once you can line the channel with graphene, do you really need the copper at all? Graphene is a better conductor than copper.
(Score: 1) by Gorb on Saturday June 20 2015, @09:59AM
Ah. Looks like they are using the graphene to stop copper from leaking into the silica:
Its lattice structure allows electrons to leap from carbon atom to carbon atom straight down the wire, while effectively containing the copper atoms within the copper wire.
Is it wrong to have sexual fantasies about cartoon characters?