FASTER CHIPS might be on the way as scientists have demonstrated a new method of "writing" circuits onto graphene.

Graphene, the material which has a thickness of a single carbon atom, is viewed as a promising replacement for silicon. Though there's no shortage of sand, the principle source of silicon, materials such as graphene are able to transport electrons faster than silicon. To that end, finding a way of making graphene useful for processors is a vital step in keeping chip firms' insatiable need for faster chips a possibility.

Previously, to make the material useful it had to be "cut into ribbons", with researchers now showing off a way to write the ribbons directly onto the surface of the material using a heated tip. Upon contact with the graphene, oxygen atoms are shed at the point of contact. The line left behind is 10,000 times more conductive than the rest of the material.

The method is a big step in making graphene easier to use in circuit fabrication. Previous processes were cumbersome, expensive and unreliable, not exactly the properties that companies like Intel and AMD want when they are trying to stamp out chips as fast as possible.

Of course all this is some way off being used in production environments, though in fact the researchers do hope to make transistors, a fundamental component in processor design, using this process. However, they say that further work needs to be done before that occurs, meaning that it won't be anytime soon.

Nevertheless, the research is the first step on the long road to replacing silicon in chips, something that is unanimously seen as vital to the semiconductor industry. µ