GATEPOST achieves first major milestone with the help of the supermaterial graphene
The EU-funded GATEPOST project was launched in October 2023 to revolutionise computing and IT security through its innovative graphene-based approach. Six months later, GATEPOST’s eight partners from Belgium, Germany, Greece and Switzerland met to discuss the project’s progress and to reflect on developments since its launch. The project’s first major milestone was the creation of a new type of chip based on graphene. Graphene is a thin, 2D layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is light, flexible and tough, and is believed to be 200 times stronger than steel and five times lighter than aluminium. It also has outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity – vastly better than that of copper. These characteristics, enabling graphene to be used as an excellent, flexible conductor, could completely revolutionise the electronics sector.
Not only electronics
However, graphene’s potential uses do not end there, extending to applications in batteries, solar cells, food packaging and medicine, to name a few. “The 2D material has great potential for many industries and exciting forward-looking applications,” explained Mindaugas Lukosius of GATEPOST project coordinator Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), Germany, in a recent news item.
Nine layers of chip
At the meeting held at project partner EurA in Germany, Leonardo Del Bino, co-founder of another German project partner, Akhetonics, presented the first photonic integrated GATEPOST chip and discussed its modelling, simulation and design process. He likened the chip, which is based on graphene-on-silicon nitride technology, to “a cake made up of many layers with different ingredients”, with each layer having “its own mask that determines exactly where the ingredient is placed in the cake.” The scientist further explained: “The design of the GATEPOST chip initially contains nine layers, each with its own mask representing a specific material at a specific point in the cake.” The chip is currently being manufactured at IHP in its 2D-Experimental Pilot Line. According to Del Bino, there are plans to include some elements to the currently simplified chip by the end of the project. The meeting included discussions on development and testing that needs to be performed in the coming months to reach the next milestones. “We are glad that the project is currently on schedule and that the first results have already been reported in scientific publications,” noted Chris Vagionas and Theodoros Moschos of project partner Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. The first papers were presented at the 2024 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition held in San Diego in the United States in late March. Also on the meeting’s agenda was this year’s Graphene Week taking place in Prague from 14 to 18 October. Europe’s leading event on 2D materials, Graphene Week brings together international experts and students to help shape the discourse surrounding graphene research and innovation. As reported in the news item, all eight partners agreed to hold a workshop at the event to support the planning process of the Graphene Flagship initiative, which GATEPOST (Graphene-based All-Optical Technology Platform for Secure Internet of Things) forms part of. The initiative aims to advance Europe’s strategic autonomy in technologies that rely on graphene and other 2D materials. For more information, please see: GATEPOST project website
Keywords
GATEPOST, graphene, chip, 2D material, electronics