Scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered that graphene transistors exhibit a nanoscale cooling effect that lowers their temperature.
William King, mechanical science and engineering professor and Eric Pop, electrical and computer engineering professor, jointly led the research, and have published their discoveries in the April 3 online issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
The team deployed an atomic force microscope tip like a temperature probe to measure the nanoscale temperature of a graphene transistor. It was discovered that thermoelectric cooling effects were more pronounced at graphene contacts reducing the transistor temperature. This shows that graphene-based electronics could need almost no cooling, making it cost- efficient.
King is also associated with the department of materials science and engineering, the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, the Beckman Institute, and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.
The research has been funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research. Others who have written the paper include graduate student Kyle Grosse, undergraduate Feifei Lian and postdoctoral student Myung-Ho Bae.
Source: http://illinois.edu/