. By crinkling the material, the researchers found a way to make a microchip that's 100 times smaller than current conventional ones. As Prof. Alan Dalton, of the University of Sussex, who worked on the study, said"
Using these nanomaterials will make our computer chips smaller and faster. It is absolutely critical that this happens as computer manufacturers are now at the limit of what they can do with traditional semiconducting technology."This type of technology, called"straintronics" uses nanomaterials such as graphene instead of electronics, and in this particular case allows for more space inside devices for more chips to be used.
"Everything we want to do with computers — to speed them up — can be done by crinkling graphene like this," continued Prof. Dalton. What's great about the team's discovery is that there's no longer the need to add more and more foreign materials into a device to make it work faster. Instead, all they need to do is use this nano-origami method with materials such asThe team pointed out that the tech is greener as it doesn't require more materials, and its process uses less energy as it can be done at room temperature rather than using high temperatures.