Fact: Scientists have finally discovered the missing link to featuring light bulbs on computer chips by using Graphene. When Graphene is poorly conducted, it produces a light.
Well, this is certainly not the end of the story. The reason why light bulbs haven’t been utilized on computer chips is due to a very simple explanation most everyone knows about. In order to produce light, an enormous amount of energy and heat must be produced. These internal temperatures that are in the thousands of degrees Celsius would fry any surrounding chip.
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Now, here is the cool part. Recently, scientists have created thin graphene filaments used for different devices onto computer chips. The same process has been not so easy for light bulbs. But scientists found that the hotter graphene gets, the less conductive it becomes.
As described in Nature Nanotechnology, scientists created an atomically thin graphene filament that integrated with a computer chip. When a current is produced, it heats up and produces light. So, the heat that is produced stays confined to the filament and doesn’t melt the surrounding chip.
Young Duck Kim explains that handling and working with atomically thin materials are extremely difficult and requires the help of special techniques. He states that also, “the light emission from graphene is robust because it has the highest mechanical stiffness and high stability.
What is cool about using this microfilament single nano layer comparatively to others is that graphene strongest material. It has a strength of 42 N/m, which has an intrinsic strength of 130 GPa (gigapascals). So, while it is not the strongest material in the world, for its specific purpose here, it is. Unfortunately, graphene cost is pretty expensive due to its high demand.
This ability in graphene has helped develop state-of-the-art photodetectors (used for light detection), optical modulators (alter movement of a beam of light), and plasmonic devices (fast method of information transfer over small wires).
References:
- Graphene Computer Chips Run on Light Instead of Electricity. (n.d.). Gizmodo. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://gizmodo.com/graphene-computer-chips-run-on-light-instead-of-electri-1325215948
- Kim, Y. D., Kim, H., Cho, Y., Ryoo, J. H., Park, C.-H., Kim, P., Kim, Y. S., Lee, S., Li, Y., Park, S.-N., Shim Yoo, Y., Yoon, D., Dorgan, V. E., Pop, E., Heinz, T. F., Hone, J., Chun, S.-H., Cheong, H., Lee, S. W., & Bae, M.-H. (2015). Bright visible light emission from graphene. Nature Nanotechnology, 10(8), 676–681. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.118
- Tsakmakidis, K. L. (2021). Stopped-light nanolasing in optical magic-angle graphene. Nature Nanotechnology, 16(10), 1048–1049. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00960-x
- admin. (n.d.). What is Graphene and What is Graphene Used For? Graphene Uses. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.grapheneuses.org/what-is-graphene/#:~:text=1%20Hardness.%20Graphene%20is%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20strongest%20material.
