In semiconductor components, which are the cornerstone of the computer industry, miniaturization, which has been the driving force for improving performance, has reached its limit.This is because the wiring part that constitutes the circuit and the device part that consists of semiconductors cannot function due to the increase in electrical resistance if they are further miniaturized.Graphene does not cause a significant increase in electrical resistance even when forming fine circuits.It is expected that this property will lead to further improvement in the performance of semiconductor components.However, graphene is not a semiconductor, so there was a problem that it could only be used for wiring.

　When graphene was discovered in 2004, researchers immediately tried to make it into a semiconductor all over the world.By connecting graphene as wiring and graphene made into semiconductors, I thought about making next-generation semiconductor parts.However, no effective method has been found yet.On the other hand, Professor Tanaka's idea was to partially semiconductorize the circuit formed from graphene to form a circuit in which wiring and devices are integrated.To that end, we first established a method for cutting out stable quality graphene nanoribbons from sheets.Next, by adsorbing certain organic compounds on the ribbon made by this method, we succeeded in partially converting it into a semiconductor.Since the non-semiconductor parts are used as wiring, the circuit formed by this method may be a very effective method for manufacturing new semiconductor parts.

　Although the performance of the central processing unit (CPU) of computers is steadily improving even now, it cannot be denied that it has slowed down considerably compared to around 2000.The day may come when research from the material level will make dramatic progress again.

Source:[Kyushu Institute of Technology] Succeeded in partially semiconductorizing metal graphene nanoribbons by adsorbing organic nanoparticles (research results)