Entries by John Are Beukes

2D Materials: Beyond the Realm of Graphene

Many of you will know about graphene and how it has been touted as the new wonder material that will change the face of many nanotechnology applications. Whilst graphene is the most promising in terms of its commercial potential, there are a host of other 2D materials out there with amazing properties that are still […]

Graphene takes on the properties of gold and cobalt to benefit spintronics and quantum computers

Scientists from St. Petersburg University and Tomsk University in Russia, along with teams at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and University of the Basque Country, Spain, have modified graphene in such a way that it has taken the properties of cobalt and gold: magnetism and spin–orbit interaction. This advance can greatly benefit quantum computers.

Graphene nanoribbons on a gold surface may open the door to improved electronics and future spintronics applications

A research team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has placed armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) on a gold surface. Since AGNRs become semiconductors at certain widths, this structure may offer advantages in speed, heat dissipation and power consumption in electronic devices and create new research paths in spintronics.

An inexpensive, flexible pressure sensor can be used as a wearable device for various health monitoring applications

A team led by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay, India, has developed a graphene-enhanced inexpensive, flexible pressure sensor that can be used for various health-care applications. The piezoresistive pressure sensor can reportedly monitor even small-scale movements caused by low-pressure variations.