Samsung Electronics Discovers Groundbreaking Method to Commercialize New Material for Electronics

Summary:

• Samsung Electronics announced a breakthrough synthesis method to speed the commercialization of graphene, a unique material ideally suited for electronic devices.

• Graphene has one hundred times greater electron mobility than silicon.

• Graphene is more durable than steel and has high heat conductibility as well as flexibility, which makes it the perfect material for use in flexible displays, wearables and other next generation electronic devices.

Samsung Electronics Discovers Groundbreaking Method to Commercialize New Material for Electronics

Graphene has potential to usher in new era of next generation electronic devices, including flexible displays and wearable technology

Samsung Electronics announced a breakthrough synthesis method to speed the commercialization of graphene, a unique material ideally suited for electronic devices. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), in partnership with Sungkyunkwan University, became the first in the world to develop this new method.   

“This is one of the most significant breakthroughs in graphene research in history,” said the laboratory leaders at SAIT’s Lab. “We expect this discovery to accelerate the commercialization of graphene, which could unlock the next era of consumer electronic technology.”

Graphene has one hundred times greater electron mobility than silicon, the most widely used material in semiconductors today. It is more durable than steel and has high heat conductibility as well as flexibility, which makes it the perfect material for use in flexible displays, wearables and other next generation electronic devices.

Through its partnership with Sungkyungkwan University’s School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, SAIT uncovered a new method of growing large area, single crystal wafer scale graphene. Engineers around the world have invested heavily in research for the commercialization of graphene, but have faced many obstacles due to the challenges associated with it. In the past, researchers have found that multi-crystal synthesis – the process of synthesizing small graphene particles to produce large-area graphene – deteriorated the electric and mechanical properties of the material, limiting its application range and making it difficult to commercialize.

The new method developed by SAIT and Sungkyunkwan University synthesizes large-area graphene into a single crystal on a semiconductor, maintaining its electric and mechanical properties. The new method repeatedly synthesizes single crystal graphene on the current semiconductor wafer scale.

Over the past several decades, the growth of the semiconductor industry has been driven by the ability to grow the area of a silicon wafer, while steadily decreasing the process node. In order to commercialize graphene to displace the industry’s reliance on silicon, it is vital to develop a new method to grow a single crystal graphene into a large area.

The research results will be published in the April 4 issue of Science Magazine and ScienceExpress, one of the world’s most prestigious science journals.

Samsung and Sungkyunkwan University have been partnering in the field of nano research since 2006. This breakthrough is a testament to the strengths of the two institutions, who together were able to successfully achieve results that could become a driver of next generation technology.

The research was funded by Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), under the Project to Nurture Leading Creative Researching Experts Program.

About Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), founded as Samsung Group’s R&D Hub since October 1987. SAIT, established as the incubator for cutting-edge technologies under the founding philosophy of boundless search for breakthroughs and guided by the vision of changing the World through creative research. SAIT also functions as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Samsung group including Samsung Electronics, establishing the group’s overall R&D outlook and strategy. Visit http://www.sait.samsung.co.kr/

About Sungkyungkwan University School of Advanced Materials and Science

School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology have focused on the design and fabrication of low-dimensional functional nanomaterials.

About Science Express

Science Express provides electronic publication of selected Science papers in advance of print. Some editorial changes may occur between the online version and the final printed version. Visit https://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/recent