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Coal’s Quantum Leap: Pioneering the Future of Nanoelectronics
Scitech Daily ^ | JANUARY 6, 2024 | By UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS GRAINGER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Posted on 01/09/2024 11:13:16 AM PST by Red Badger

A wafer containing memristors fabricated with high-quality two-dimensional carbon processed from bituminous Blue Gem coal mined in southeastern Kentucky, two samples of which are shown here.

Credit: The Grainger College of Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Researchers have transformed coal into high-purity materials for use in next-generation electronic devices, marking a significant shift in its economic and technological applications.

Coal is an abundant resource in the United States that has, unfortunately, contributed to climate change through its use as a fossil fuel. As the country transitions to other means of energy production, it will be important to consider and reevaluate coal’s economic role. A joint research effort from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has shown how coal can play a vital role in next-generation electronic devices.

“Coal is usually thought of as something bulky and dirty, but the processing techniques we’ve developed can transform it into high-purity materials just a couple of atoms thick,” said Qing Cao, a U. of I. materials science & engineering professor and a co-lead of the collaboration. “Their unique atomic structures and properties are ideal for making some of the smallest possible electronics with performance superior to state-of-the art.”

A process developed by the NETL first converts coal char into nanoscale carbon disks called “carbon dots” that the U. of I. research group demonstrated can be connected to form atomically thin membranes for applications in both two-dimensional transistors and memristors, technologies that will be critical to constructing more advanced electronics. These results are reported in the journal Communications Engineering.

Perfect for 2D Electronics

In the ongoing search for smaller, faster and more efficient electronics, the final step will be devices made with materials just one or two atoms thick. It is impossible for devices to be smaller than this limit, and their small scale often makes them operate much quicker and consume far less energy. While ultrathin semiconductors have been extensively studied, it is also necessary to have atomically thin insulators – materials that block electric currents – to construct working electronic devices like transistors and memristors.

Atomically thin layers of carbon with disordered atomic structures can function as an excellent insulator for constructing two-dimensional devices. The researchers in the collaboration have shown that such carbon layers can be formed from carbon dots derived from coal char. To demonstrate their capabilities, the U. of I. group led by Cao developed two examples of two-dimensional devices.

“It’s really quite exciting, because this is the first time that coal, something we normally see as low-tech, has been directly linked to the cutting edge of microelectronics,” Cao said.

Transistor Dielectric

Cao’s group used coal-derived carbon layers as the gate dielectric in two-dimensional transistors built on the semimetal graphene or semiconductor molybdenum disulfide to enable more than two times faster device operating speed with lower energy consumption. Like other atomically thin materials, the coal-derived carbon layers do not possess “dangling bonds,” or electrons that are not associated with a chemical bond. These sites, which are abundant on the surface of conventional three-dimensional insulators, alter their electrical properties by effectively functioning as “traps,” slowing down the transport of mobile charges and thus the transistor switching speed.

However, unlike other atomically thin materials, the new coal-derived carbon layers are amorphous, meaning that they do not possess a regular, crystalline structure. They therefore do not have boundaries between different crystalline regions that serve as conduction pathways leading to “leakage,” where undesired electrical currents flow through the insulator and cause substantial additional power consumption during device operations.

Memristor Filament

Another application Cao’s group considered is memristors – electronic components capable of both storing and operating on data to greatly enhance the implementation of AI technology. These devices store and represent data by modulating a conductive filament formed by electrochemical reactions between a pair of electrodes with the insulator sandwiched in between.

The researchers found that the adoption of ultrathin coal-derived carbon layers as the insulator allows the fast formation of such filament with low energy consumption to enable high device operating speed with low power. Moreover, atomic size rings in these coal-derived carbon layers confine the filament to enhance the reproducible device operations for enhanced data storage fidelity and reliability.

From Research to Production

The new devices developed by the Cao group provide proof-of-principle for the use of coal-derived carbon layers in two-dimensional devices. What remains is to show that such devices can be manufactured on large scales.

“The semiconductor industry, including our collaborators at Taiwan Semiconductor, is very interested in the capabilities of two-dimensional devices, and we’re trying to fulfill that promise,” Cao said. “Over the next few years, the U. of I. will continue to collaborate with NETL to develop a fabrication process for coal-based carbon insulators that can be implemented in industrial settings.”

Reference:

“Ultrathin quasi-2D amorphous carbon dielectric prepared from solution precursor for nanoelectronics” by Fufei An, Congjun Wang, Viet Hung Pham, Albina Borisevich, Jiangchao Qian, Kaijun Yin, Saran Pidaparthy, Brian Robinson, Ang-Sheng Chou, Junseok Lee, Jennifer Weidman, Sittichai Natesakhawat, Han Wang, André Schleife, Jian-Min Zuo, Christopher Matranga and Qing Cao, 20 December 2023, Communications Engineering.

DOI: 10.1038/s44172-023-00141-9


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Military/Veterans; Science
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 01/09/2024 11:13:16 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: SunkenCiv; ShadowAce; dayglored; Swordmaker; SuperLuminal

You load 16 bits and whatta ya get?

Another day colder and deeper in debt..................


2 posted on 01/09/2024 11:14:31 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger; rdb3; JosephW; martin_fierro; Still Thinking; zeugma; Vinnie; ironman; Egon; raybbr; ...

3 posted on 01/09/2024 11:24:48 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: Red Badger

If only we had a way to make electricity to power those coal chips.


4 posted on 01/09/2024 11:28:01 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: Red Badger

“Coal is an abundant resource in the United States that has, unfortunately, contributed to climate change”

Yeah, right…and in the 1970s the smoke was said to be a factor in a coming ice age…when that didn’t happen they switched to global warming….when the warming didn’t cooperate it became climate change…more lies.


5 posted on 01/09/2024 11:29:41 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Finish the damned WALL! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH!)
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To: Red Badger
This is nice, but I'm still working on scattering charcoal around my home...


6 posted on 01/09/2024 11:30:03 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: Red Badger

Does the use of the term “two-dimensional” to describe physical objects bother anyone else? I DON’T CARE if it’s 1 atom thick, that’s still a thickness!


7 posted on 01/09/2024 11:31:45 AM PST by FrankRizzo890
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To: FrankRizzo890

You’ve got a ‘point’ there........................


8 posted on 01/09/2024 11:33:37 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
The amount of carbon that will go into microchips will be minuscule compared to all other uses.
But that won't stop liberals or other math challenged people from panicking.

9 posted on 01/09/2024 11:33:42 AM PST by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty)
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To: Red Badger

LOL...


10 posted on 01/09/2024 12:43:08 PM PST by Wonder Warthog (NRA Life Member)
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To: Wonder Warthog

Some Euclidian humor....................😎


11 posted on 01/09/2024 12:52:00 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
that has, unfortunately, contributed to climate change

Bullcrap.

12 posted on 01/09/2024 12:53:23 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: FrankRizzo890
I DON’T CARE if it’s 1 atom thick, that’s still a thickness!

Not in Solid State Physics. It has bulk properties only in two dimensions, and behaves differently from objects with more than one atom in the thickness dimension.

If we were discussing geometry, you'd be right. We're not, so you're not.

A bit of mental agility is required.

13 posted on 01/09/2024 12:57:45 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Red Badger

The company I work for manufactures graphene from coal instead of graphite (which is mostly mined in China). Message me if you want to know more.


14 posted on 01/09/2024 1:18:21 PM PST by DaxtonBrown (away.)
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To: DaxtonBrown

Whatever happened to the guy that had the graphene ping list?................


15 posted on 01/09/2024 1:20:32 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

I didn’t know there was a graphene ping list. I’m into my 8th month working on graphene, and I can tell you it real is a major leap in technology.


16 posted on 01/09/2024 1:48:55 PM PST by DaxtonBrown (away.)
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To: DaxtonBrown

This true graphene one atom thick and your company has a process that produces graphene with consistent physical properties?


17 posted on 01/09/2024 2:02:22 PM PST by Reily (!!)
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To: DaxtonBrown

IIRC, it was FReeper Upchuck that had it, but he hasn’t posted since August................


18 posted on 01/09/2024 4:44:02 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: DaxtonBrown

https://freerepublic.com/tag/graphene/index?tab=articles

https://ninithi.wordpress.com/2015/08/11/the-top-10-uses-of-graphene/


19 posted on 01/09/2024 4:47:21 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: NorthMountain

Thanks! Always happy to learn something.


20 posted on 01/09/2024 5:46:35 PM PST by FrankRizzo890
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