Bendable phones taking a step towards reality

Samsung heralds a new Graphene production breakthrough that could have a huge impact on the future of mobile devices and wearable technology.

Samsung heralds a new Graphene production breakthrough that could have a huge impact on the future of mobile devices and wearable technology.

Graphene has been touted as a miracle material for some years now, and understandably so. It's 100 times better than silicon for making processors and is stronger than steel yet thinner, lighter and more flexible.

Therefore it has the potential to revolutionize electronic device design. However, until now, trying to produce the material in commercial quantities led to the creation of a material devoid of all of these benefits.

Now Samsung claims that it has made a significant breakthrough that could accelerate the commercial use of Graphene in things such as flexible displays.

The company's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) division has been working in partnership with Sungkyunkwan University, and together have become the first team in the world to develop this new production method.

'This is one of the most significant breakthroughs in Graphene research in history,' said the laboratory leaders at SAIT's Lab. 'We expect this discovery to accelerate the commercialization of Graphene, which could unlock the next era of consumer electronic technology.'

Published Friday in leading science journal Science magazine and ScienceExpress, Samsung's breakthrough is centered around crystal synthesis. A nanomaterial, grapheme is created as a single crystal.

By synthesizing hundreds of Graphene particles or crystals in order to make a large piece of the material, the Graphene loses its unique properties. The new approach synthesizes large-area Graphene into a single crystal on a semiconductor, maintaining its electric and mechanical properties.

As such, Graphene has just taken a major step towards being a viable alternative to silicon.