(Yicai) Jan. 5 -- A team from China’s Tianjin University led by Chair Professor Ma Lei was the leading research team of the world’s first functional semiconductor made of graphene, a two-dimensional material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure.

Walt A. de Heer directed the part of the research carried out by the Georgia Institute of Technology, while Ma directed the Chinese research team of the Tianjin International Center for Nanoparticles and Nanosystems, which was responsible for most of the research work, Ma told Yicai.

Ultrahigh-Mobility Semiconducting Epitaxial Graphene on Silicon Carbide, jointly supervised by Ma and de Heer, was published on Nature Journal on Jan. 3. The research findings were found in the second half of 2021, while the paper was completed in 2022, Ma noted.

The paper demonstrated that semiconducting epigraphene on single-crystal silicon carbide substrates has a band gap of 0.6 electron volt and room temperature mobilities exceeding 5,000 square centimeters V−1 s−1, which is 10 times larger than that of silicon and 20 times larger than that of the other two-dimensional semiconductors.

“SEG on single-crystal silicon carbide substrates remove the largest roadblock impeding graphene electronics going into practical use,” Ma explained.

Band gap refers to the gap between the allowed energy of electrons in semiconductor materials and the low and high energy bands. Materials with different band gaps can have complementary functions, such as performing logic operations, providing power, or serving as sensors.

Modern research found that transistors made with silicon materials under 10 nanometers are less stable. Therefore, the industrial and academic circles are looking for semiconductor materials to replace silicon. Graphene does not have a band gap, so it is difficult for it to exhibit the characteristics of a semiconductor and be used to manufacture digital circuits.

Graphene semiconductors will be cheaper and perform better than existing semiconductor materials on the market if put into industrial use, Ma pointed out. However, 10 to 15 years of research are still needed before graphene can achieve industrial use, he predicted.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione