According to a research study by the University of Gothenburg, carbon nanotubes and graphene could advance the electronics utilized in mobile phones and computers.
"If you stretch a graphene sheet from end to end the thin layer can oscillate at a basic frequency of getting on for a billion times a second," says researcher Anders Nordenfelt. "This is the same frequency range used by radios, mobile phones and computers." (Photo: University of Gothenburg)
Anders Nordenfelt, one of the researchers, informed that when stretched end to end, a graphene sheet can be oscillated at a frequency of a billion times per second, a frequency range utilized by computers, mobile phones and radios. These nanomaterials can amplify radio signals due to their superior mechanical resonance frequencies.
The power consumption and size of electronic circuits can be reduced further with the help of these carbon nanomaterials due to their smaller size and lighter weight. Besides research on electronic applications, investigation is going on to find the possibility of using graphene to weigh ultra-small objects like DNA molecules.
In the study, Nordenfelt has performed a mathematical study to show the possibility of connecting a nanowire to a simple electronic circuit and enabling the mechanical self-oscillation of the nanowire by applying a magnetic field.
Concurrently, a direct current is converted into an alternating current with a frequency equivalent to that of the mechanical oscillation, said Nordenfelt. The harmonics of the nanowire can be modified by varying the size of the electronic components. Basically, there are a very large number of harmonics with unlimited high freqencies. However, practical limitations are there.
Producing terahertz-range signals is a long-held research dream. The terahertz radiation has wavelengths that lie between infrared radiation and microwaves. It is too slow for use in optical circuits, but too fast for use in electronic circuits. His method cannot produce this high frequency radiation, said Nordenfelt.