Samsung Electronics said it has found a way to speed up the commercialization of graphene, a fascinating material suited for a multitude of applications, including integrated circuits, flexible display screens, wearable computing and communications devices, solar cells and much more.
According to Samsung, graphene has 100 times greater electron mobility than silicon, is more durable than steel and has high heat conductibility as well as flexibility. While there is worldwide interest in graphene, creating the material in volume has presented challenges. Samsung, working with researchers at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, said the new method "synthesizes large-area graphene into a single crystal on a semiconductor, maintaining its electric and mechanical properties."
Graphene was first isolated in 2004 by researchers at the UK's University of Manchester, who won the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on this "wonder material of the 21st century." For more, see this Samsung release.