Samsung has already set its foot into the flexible display category and has also churned out its first not-so-commercially available Galaxy Round. Looks like, the company plans to continue its efforts at employing bendable and flexible material in its devices. Now, a group of researchers that are supported by Samsung have developed a new method for synthesising graphene. Graphene is an ultra-thin material that is quite powerful as well as flexible. So, it could possibly have the potential to replace silicon, and change the way we’ve known electronics.
Researchers at Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea have announced a new technique for “growing large area, single crystal wafer scale graphene.” Previously, attempts at growing large area wafer failed as grapheme would lose some of its properties.
Discovered in 2004, Graphene is known as the thinnest material that is also a good conductor of electricity and heat. Samsung states, “Graphene is more durable than steel and has high heat conductibility as well as flexibility, which makes it the perfect material for use in flexible displays, wearables and other next generation electronic devices.”
However, mass production of grapheme has been a challenge due to its high costs and certain limitations that arise when small graphene particles are combined to produce a larger piece of the material. Now, Samsung said it has overcome this challenge with its new method that allows graphene to retain its electrical and mechanical properties while synthesising a single crystal on a larger scale.
The research results are published in the April 4 issue of Science Magazine and ScienceExpress.
