Concept and prototype images
Graphene continues on its road to adoption with Intel's demonstration of a Graphene based analog broadband Radio Frequency Mixer. The mixer, a signal summing device, produces an output signal from the mixing of the input frequencies. In other words, adding up the several input signals to produce a single clean and distortion free version of the input.
Intel's graphene mixer operates up to 10GHz at temperatures between 25°C and 125°C with very little loss, 1 decibel between temp range. A 27 decibel conversion loss was experience at 4GHz. The circuit did not need any external passive components, making this particular mixer cheaper and more attractive for use in future wireless devices. With Intel demonstrating their 155GHz transistor, higher frequencies could open up for this wireless mixer to use.
Graphene's energy gap ratio is still not deep enough to create true on/off capabilities, so it is some time away from replacing our CPUs. However, for analog situations like the RF mixer, graphene is an ideal candidate for use.
Another fun graphene discovery; Auto-cooling components.
Eavesdropper
Pictures from Intel
