IBM developing PCs that may run 30 times faster

1.   A one-atom-thick layer of carbon has currently become the focus of interest of IBM and the U.S. military to build computers that function at near the speed of light.

2.  The focus is actually based on GRAPHENE, the thinnest and toughest material ever produced, that conducts electricity, a breakthrough that opens the door to its use in digital electronics

3.   Some key finding on GRAPHINE :

- Graphene is the basic structural element of some carbon allotropes including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.

- Graphene conducts electricity 30 times faster than silicon -- approaching the speed of light

- Until recently, use of graphene was limited to development of more-efficient batteries and foldable touch screens.

- Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones by volume, is investigating the material’s potential use in cell phones, touch screens, and printed electronics. 

- Graphene’s flexibility and strength is astonishingly 300 times tougher than steel - may lead to the Nokia Morph, the first foldable phone.

- “With a graphene battery the same amount of weight and volume as a current one, you could drive 300 miles instead of 100,” said Yuegang Zhang, a principal investigator at the lab. 

- Graphene has the ideal properties to be an excellent component of integrated circuits. Graphene has a high carrier mobility, as well as low noise, allowing it to be used as the channel in a FET.

4.     Thanks Wiki and electroiq