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A role for graphene in silicon-based semiconductor devices

Nature volume 479, pages 338–344 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

As silicon-based electronics approach the limit of improvements to performance and capacity through dimensional scaling, attention in the semiconductor field has turned to graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. Its high mobility of charge carriers (electrons and holes) could lead to its use in the next generation of high-performance devices. Graphene is unlikely to replace silicon completely, however, because of the poor on/off current ratio resulting from its zero bandgap. But it could be used to improve silicon-based devices, in particular in high-speed electronics and optical modulators.

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Figure 1: Formation of 'nothing-on-graphene' architecture, which minimizes the scattering of electrons.
Figure 2: Structure of a graphene-gated optical modulator.
Figure 3: The structure of graphene photo-detectors with integrated waveguides.
Figure 5: Proposed device structures and process requirements for graphene and hBN films.
Figure 4: Direct growth of graphene and hBN.

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Acknowledgements

We thank U.-I. Chung, H. Kim, Y. Y. Lee, S. Jeon and S.-H. Lee for assisting with scientific discussions and contributions.

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  1. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Samsung Electronics, Yongin-Si, 446-712, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea

    Kinam Kim, Jae-Young Choi, Taek Kim, Seong-Ho Cho & Hyun-Jong Chung

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Correspondence to Kinam Kim.

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Kim, K., Choi, JY., Kim, T. et al. A role for graphene in silicon-based semiconductor devices. Nature 479, 338–344 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10680

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