Researchers at the University of Rochester and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have demonstrated a logic gate—the building block of computation and information processing—that operates at femtosecond timescales. The feat was accomplished by harnessing and controlling the real and virtual charge carriers that compose these ultrafast bursts of electricity.

The researchers have opened the door to information processing at the petahertz limit, where one quadrillion computational operations can be processed per second. That is almost a million times faster than today’s computers operating with gigahertz clock rates, where 1 petahertz is 1 million gigahertz.

Scientists at Swansea University, Biovici Ltd and the National Physical Laboratory have developed a graphene-based method to detect viruses in very small volumes.

Graphene device chip attached to an electrical connector, with two 5 μL HCVcAg samples (one applied on each graphene resistor). Image credit: Swansea U

The work followed a successful Innovate UK project developing graphene for use in biosensors devices that can detect tiny levels of disease markers.

Q36.5, producer of advanced cycling clothing, has launched a line of bike shirts made of yarn that integrates graphene in the fabric (rather than using the material as a treatment).

The "Clima Jersey" line is said to be made from a polyester fabric infused with graphene, and takes advantage of graphene’s conductive and heat dissipation properties to provide cutting edge thermoregulation, helping the wearer to stay cool and dry during hard efforts.

Researchers at the Harvey Mudd College in the U.S have made an unexpected discovery that holds exciting potential for creating robust water-repellent coatings using gas-phase-synthesized graphene (GSG) and other nanomaterials.

Last summer, the researchers were working on two projects: A National Science Foundation-funded project characterizing nanocomposites and a project supported by the College’s Rasmussen Summer Research fund that involved using graphene to separate oil from water. While working on these projects, the students discovered that water droplets falling on our graphene powder were easily sliding off and bouncing from it, says Albert Dato, author of the paper. This was a completely unexpected result since we weren’t even looking into this phenomenon called superhydrophobicity.

Versarien has announced that its Graphene-Wear technology will be incorporated in Umbro's top-of-the-range Pro-Training Kit for the Spring/Summer collection 2023. Umbro and Versarien have been working on several projects since 2018, and this is the first one that will reach the market.

Versarien and Umbro say that the Graphene-Wear formula will enable wearers to experience enhanced thermal transmittance, increased moisture management and drying rate of the garments. The garments will have Versarien's Graphene-Wear trademark applied.

This is a sponsored post by Graphenea

Graphenea has announced that, following the release of its GFET S30, it has developed a High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) manufacturing process to create Field-Effect Transistor (FET) structures on graphene, or GFETs. This process is now available under the dedicated GFAB service, starting February 2022.

HKMG structures triggered a revolution in Si electronics when they were introduced during the early 2000’s, creating an alternative to SiO2 gate dielectrics that paved the way for further scaling. HKMG technology indeed enabled Moore’s law to continue, providing increased capacitance and lower current leakage than the previously state-of-the-art SiO2 tech. The most common FET architecture to modulate the conductance in graphene uses a SiO2 gate dielectric grown on top of a heavily doped Si substrate. Whereas this structure is easy to implement, it suffers from excessive current leakage when the SiO2 layer is thinned down, often rendering devices unusable. Moreover, the substrate acts as a global backgate, forbidding manipulation of individual GFET devices, which is essential for many applications.

University of Pennsylvania scientists have recently conducted a study that shows how patterned, periodic deformations of a single layer of graphene transforms it into a material with electronic properties previously seen in twisted graphene bilayers. This system also hosts additional unexpected and interesting conducting states at the boundary.

Through a better understanding of how unique properties occur when single sheets of graphene are subjected to periodic strain, this work has the potential to create quantum devices such as orbital magnets and superconductors in the future.

NanoXplore and Solmax Group have announced that they have entered into a blanket purchase order, following several years of collaborative work.

The five-year collaboration between the two companies has reportedly resulted in a product and Solmax CEO, Jean-Louis Vangeluwe, said: This cooperation underscores our commitment to delivering growth through forward-looking innovation and collaboration. Our five-year development collaboration with NanoXplore will allow us to launch a next-generation product based on graphene technology that solves some of our customers’ sustainability challenges while also boosting performance.

CAP-XX, Australia-based manufacturer of thin-form supercapacitors and energy management systems, recently formed a joint venture for what it calls a "transformational new graphene material".

The deal is with Australia's Ionic Industries, which is developing new forms of graphene for a variety of markets, and involves the commercialization of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for supercapacitors and other energy storage devices.

Researchers from the University of Maryland have explored the somewhat creative possibility that our reality is only one half of a pair of interacting worlds, drawing inspiration from bi-layer graphene. Their mathematical model may provide a new perspective for looking at fundamental features of reality—including why our universe expands the way it does and how that relates to the most miniscule lengths allowed in quantum mechanics.

The scientists formed this new perspective based on the study of bi-layer graphene. They realized that experiments on the electrical properties of stacked sheets of graphene produced results that looked like little universes and that the underlying phenomenon might generalize to other areas of physics. In stacks of graphene, new electrical behaviors arise from interactions between the individual sheets, so perhaps unique physics could similarly emerge from interacting layers elsewhere—perhaps in cosmological theories about the entire universe.