How to make an Origami Microchip?

Tinniest microchip: Graphene “nano-origami”

A brief account of the microchip’s evolution displays the transistors, robots controller card, designed around integrated circuits.

Graphene Molecular Structural Arrangement

Evolution of Microchips:

• The ubiquitous microchip
• First-generation electronic technology - Vacuum tubes (Valves)
• Second-generation electronic technology - Transistors
• A smash-hit, the first transistor radio

After all, the possibility that anytime soon, Machinery or Robo's of the world will unite and herald the next wave of electronic innovation. 

In the process of obsolescing the very microchips which empowered the electronics revolutionization.

What is "Nano Origami"?

The art of molding the origami inspired numerous examples of macroscale hierarchical structures with a high degree of reconfigurability and multiple functionalities. 

Using Graphene and other 2D materials constituents formed ‘nano-origami’, Physicists at the University of Sussex

Research has been done, and it is covered in a paper published in the ACS Nano Journal. 

By creating kinks in the structure of graphene. 

Kink Structure

Researchers believe that this next generation of microchips, nanomaterial behave like a transistor.  

Around 100 times smaller than conventional microchips.

The technology used behind this nanostructured microchip is “Straintronics”. 

Introducing Straintronics:

In particular, graphene nanoribbons, when exposed to physical strain, act as if they are being exposed to a strong magnetic field.

Allows space for more chips inside any device.

To speed computers up, this can be done by crinkling graphene.

The University of Sussex team’s findings could begin to clear some of the confusion surrounding graphene and straintronics. 

Measuring the effects of folding, wrinkling, and collapsing of graphene constitutes a technique called nanomechanical atomic force. 

Need to investigate how the processes affected the stiffness of the graphene. 

Pros: A Greener Microchip

Graphene is a material that is renowned for its strength and flexibility, heat, and electromagnetic conductivity. 

Microchip

Increasing its rigidity by precise folding can be effectively used in a microchip without the addition of additives.

Referred to as Greener Microchip, i.e. more sustainable technology. 

No additional materials need to be added, thus this process works at room temperature rather than high temperature, it uses less energy to create.

25 Microchips That Shook the World: 

• Signetics NE555 Timer (1971)
• Texas Instruments TMC0281 Speech Synthesizer (1978)
• MOS Technology 6502 Microprocessor (1975)
• Texas Instruments TMS32010 Digital Signal Processor (1983)
• Microchip Technology PIC 16C84 Microcontroller (1993)
• Fairchild Semiconductor μA741 Op-Amp (1968)
• Intersil ICL8038 Waveform Generator (circa 1983*)
• Western Digital WD1402A UART (1971)
• Acorn Computers ARM1 Processor (1985)
• Kodak KAF-1300 Image Sensor (1986)
• IBM Deep Blue 2 Chess Chip (1997)
• Transmeta Corp. Crusoe Processor (2000)
• Texas Instruments Digital Micromirror Device (1987)
• Intel 8088 Microprocessor (1979): This was the 16-bit CPU that IBM chose for its original PC line, which went on to dominate the desktop computer market.
  
  
  
  
  
• Micronas Semiconductor MAS3507 MP3 Decoder (1997)
• Mostek MK4096 4-Kilobit DRAM (1973)
• Xilinx XC2064 FPGA (1985)
• Zilog Z80 Microprocessor (1976)
• Sun Microsystems SPARC Processor (1987)
• Tripath Technology TA2020 AudioAmplifier (1998)
• Amati Communications Overture ADSL Chip Set (1994)
• Motorola MC68000 Microprocessor (1979)
• Chips & Technologies AT Chip Set (1985)
• Computer Cowboys Sh-Boom Processor (1988)
• Toshiba NAND Flash Memory (1989)

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