Flexible memory coming to pave the way for bendable phones

A bendable phone is the current Holy Grail of smartphone manufacturers. In order to make such a device possible, the components will have to be flexible. With that in mind, a paper written by scientists at the University of Exeter reveals how a new storage system made from graphene could replace current Flash memory. The material is cheaper and a hybrid combination made of hybrid graphene oxide-titanium oxide can be written to and read from in only five nanoseconds. The hybrid component is only 50 nanometers long and 8 nanometers thick.

Graphene is a thin layer of carbon. How thin? It is the thinnest compound known to man at one atom thin. It also is the lightest material known to man and the strongest compound. As the best conductor of electricity, it would seem to be a perfect material for use in electronic devices including a smartphone. The only elements that can be found in the universe more than carbon are hydrogen, helium and oxygen.

The problem with graphene had been the complex process required to grow the material. In addition, the quality of the graphene grown was not good enough for prime time. But companies like Samsung have been throwing money at research that will help graphene become a major component in devices like smartphones. After all, the material conducts electrons more efficiently than silicon, and transfers electrons at 1,000 kilometers per second, 30 times faster than silicon. Samsung already has filled some patent applications related to the use of graphene in electronics.

While earlier this year there was talk that the foldable Samsung X would be unveiled in the third quarter of this year, it now appears as though this will not happen until 2019.

source: ACSPublications via AndroidAuthority