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Tailoring graphene for electronics beyond silicon

The integration of non-silicon semiconductors into systems on chips is needed for advanced power and sensing technologies. A semiconducting graphene ‘buffer’ layer grown on silicon carbide is a step on this path.
  1. Francesca Iacopi

    1. Francesca Iacopi is in the Faculty of Engineering and IT, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales 2007, Australia.

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  2. Andrea C. Ferrari

    1. Andrea C. Ferrari is in the Cambridge Graphene Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK.

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Electronics relies on the use of switching devices made from semiconducting materials, in which an electric current can be controlled, ideally down to the movement of single charges. Semiconductors achieve this because the allowed energies of their electrons leave a gap between a low-energy and a high-energy band, and electrons can be excited to cross this ‘bandgap’. Materials with different-sized bandgaps can have complementary functions, such as performing logic operations, supplying power or acting as a sensor. But integrating these materials into a single device is challenging. Writing in Nature, Zhao et al.1 report a way of growing a graphene-like layer with a narrow bandgap on a material with a wide bandgap.

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Nature 625, 34-35 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03991-7

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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