Material Engineer Lee Cheol-woo (3)
Graphene is emerging as a new material.
It is one of the allotropes of carbon and has a structure in which carbon atoms form a two-dimensional plane. A shape in which carbon atoms are located at the vertices of a hexagonal lattice.
It was a material with a honeycomb structure of atomic units.
Its characteristics are that it conducts electricity more than 100 times better than copper, and the mobility of electrons is more than 100 times faster than silicon, which is mainly used in semiconductors. And that’s not all. It is said to be more than 200 times stronger than steel and more than twice as thermally conductive as any material used in 21st century industry.
If you design a semiconductor using graphene, how great a semiconductor will come out?
“How about it? Certainly rare earth elements are included and not, the difference is huge, isn’t it?”
Min said to me.
“I’m sure it is.”
“But what are you thinking so intently about?”
“hahahaha, did you catch me?”
“Yes. You can see it all on your face.”
“I was thinking about how to make semiconductors with better efficiency.”
“Oh, so what did you think?”
“Graphene.”
“Graphene…? Is the graphene I think correct? A two-dimensional material?”
Director Min said with a puzzled expression.
“Yes. That’s right. That graphene.”
“Graphen… Graphene… It’s certainly a material with tremendous future value. That’s true, but commercialization is still a long way off.”
“The reason is also mass production?”
The discovery of graphene is truly surprising.
It was the result of removing graphite, which is made of carbon, one by one with scotch tape and disassembling it down to the atomic unit.
Scientists must be crazy as well.
Did he think of separating the atomic units by continuously peeling the graphite off with scotch tape because he had nothing to do?
I had a hard time believing it, but to my surprise it was true.
It was to the point where I had to get scotch tape part-time job to make graphene.
what… … . Is it possible to make a special discovery because there is such a crazy thing?
“Yes. Even though it can be made very simply, it is impossible to mass-produce it. Because it cannot be mass-produced with the method using Scotch tape.”
“ha ha ha…….”
He, too, seemed to know the origins of graphene.
“Um, but if you can make a semiconductor using graphene, I think you can achieve great performance. Perhaps, I know that the research team has conducted research…. I will ask you once and come back. May I come?”
“Why? Are you asking me for permission?”
“hahahaha, all the staff here want to see Mr. Lee Cheol-woo. We are inventors and researchers. I’d like to get his autograph as well.”
“Ah… do as you please.”
Director Min left the lab, and after a while came back with someone.
“Hello! My name is Jeong So-yeon, the leader of Semiconductor Research Team 3. Nice to meet you. Mr. Cheol-woo Lee!”
Is it fixed that everyone calls me teacher… … .
Well, I feel like a doctor or a scholar, but since I don’t have a degree, I don’t think it’s a bit strange to call him that, and calling him a representative doesn’t sound like a representative.
“Hello. Nice to meet you. This is Lee Cheol-woo. I heard that you studied semiconductors using graphene.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ooh, how was the research result?”
“To quickly conclude, it’s a failure.”
It was an expected conclusion. If successful, there would be a buzz in the news.
In addition, Ohsung Electronics would have leaped to become the world’s strongest semiconductor country.
“What caused the failure?”
“There are so many causes that I can’t count them, but to mention just a few important ones, first of all, graphene is too difficult to obtain. The price of 1㎛ is over $1,000. It’s a big problem because it’s a goal.”
First, the problem of scarcity.
“What other problems are there?”
“Another problem is, of course, electron interference. Using graphene, semiconductors can be processed down to 1 nanometer, or even pico units, and as a result, electron interference occurs.”
Graphene also could not avoid the problem of electron interference.
“Are there other problems?”
I already thought it was difficult, but I decided to listen to a few more things.
“As expected, the biggest problem is…”
She paused for a moment and said.
“It’s not the biggest problem yet.”
“As expected, the biggest problem is that it is not a semiconductor.”
“…”
Why is a semiconductor a semiconductor? It is half conductive and half non-conductive.
In some cases, electricity flows and in others it does not, so it is called a semiconductor.
However, graphene is not a semiconductor.
“It’s just a conductor. If you want to make something out of graphene, you need to make it into a semiconductor… It’s almost impossible. No, it’s not almost, it’s absolutely impossible.”
“So silicon is a collective term for polymers of chemical bonds of silicon and oxygen, right?”
“yes.”
“And you know that silicon is a semiconductor, is that correct?”
“Yes. It is. That’s why silicon was able to become the main material for semiconductors.”
“It’s not as easy as I thought.”
“hahahaha… But if it’s Mr. Lee Cheol-woo, I think he can find a way. We believe.”
They looked at me with twinkling eyes.
‘What is it, these Ohsung Electronics researchers… … .’
From noble mtl dot com
It was burdensome.
“Okay. I’m going to stop here for today and go in.”
It seemed that a completely new method was needed.
I thought I’d go back and think about it slowly.
There is no time, but isn’t there a saying to go back when you’re in a hurry?
“Yes. I understand. I’ll be waiting for you.”
I left the Semiconductor Research Center of Ohsung Electronics and moved to my LF Research Center.
And on the way, I ordered a few things for Minseok.
The third floor is empty in the laboratory. It seemed that a chemistry lab would be needed there.
* * *
A few days later, construction was in full swing on the third floor of the lab.
Minseok has been buying equipment related to chemistry as a top priority, and the construction was to install it.
And I put it on that someone would need it too… … .
“Chief Min? Why are you here?”
“…… Chairman Kang told me to go?”
“is it so?”
Did Minseok tell Chairman Kang? The director of Research Team 1 was dispatched here.
“Yes. I don’t know how things are going either.
After all, the fate of the country is at stake, and the fate of Ohsung Electronics is at stake.
Such an unprecedented greeting would be nothing.
“hahahaha, please take care of me while you’re here.”
“Me too! It’s an honor for the family to come to Mr. Cheol-Woo Lee’s laboratory.”
“What kind of family glory…”
“hahahahaha. You turned the complete lab into a chemistry lab?”
“Yes. I think I will have to do research again from the basic materials.”
Neither silicon nor graphene.
Then you have to find or create a completely new material. To do so, a substance with a new chemical formula is needed.
“……. In many ways, it’s amazing.”
“Several meanings? What do you mean?”
“Do you know what the biggest difference is between a corporate research institute and a university research institute?”
Um, corporate labs and university labs?
“I see. What’s the difference? Well, companies do research about it because they have to make money, and university research institutes do pure research apart from money?”
I guessed.
“hahahaha, you’re right. That’s right. Companies do advanced research, and schools do basic research. And basic research doesn’t make money. That’s why the government supports research funds.”
One of the things I felt while making the ITE-X engine is that there is a huge hurdle in actually commercializing a certain technology.
Especially when making pre-vector gears.
If you think of remodeling a CNC milling machine because there is no mass production method… … .
If the free vector gear was a technology that could come out of a university research lab, the CNC equipment was a technology that would come out of a company.
That seemed to be the difference.
“You guessed right.”
“hahahaha, what I want to say is that Professor Lee Chul-woo is doing university research and corporate research at the same time. Just, he leads directly from nothing to industry. I think that’s really great.”
“……. thank you.”
Well, when creating Arc Intelligence, it would be more appropriate for a theory like Critical Thinking Theory to come from a university laboratory.
“So what does the state not support?”
“……. nation?”
“Yes! We do university research together, so we have to apply for something.”
“I don’t have anything like that.”
“Oh, this is why I hate Korea. Ugh, I heard the rumors this time. I heard that the country weighed Ohsung Electronics and LF? In the meantime, teacher Lee Chul-woo made a deal that he would create something new to replace rare earth elements.”
“Ha ha, did the story spread there already?”
Who the hell is running the rumors?
“Yes. Is that true?”
“……. That’s right.”
“As expected, it’s amazing. The spirit of sacrifice for the country! If you just go to America, you’ll be treated much better.”
“Nevertheless, I was born and raised in Korea.”
“Korea must have accumulated a lot of virtue in its previous life.”
“Republic of Korea…?”
This person, seeing it now, was a complete fourth dimension.
“Well, that’s just what they say. So what kind of research do you want to do?”
“After I visited the lab, I did a little research myself.”
I should have known a little about the Ohsung Electronics laboratory, but I went too blindly.
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. First of all, semiconductors are needed to make semiconductor chips.”
“hahahaha, of course. That’s why I use silicone.”
“And what materials are in semiconductors. To be more precise, should they be called metalloids?”
“Oh… that’s already there.”
“Silicon, number 14 on the periodic table. Germanium, number 32. Boron, number 5, etc.”
“Yes. That’s right. Among them, silicon 14 and germanium 32 are the main raw materials for semiconductors.”
I studied correctly.
“And I also studied a little bit about graphene.”
“Oh? Graphene too? Why?”
“Because it’s a two-dimensional material.”
“Is that so? Did you find out anything?”
“Yes. I think I’ve figured out something important.”
“Umm… what?”
“The reason why graphene is in the limelight is because it is a two-dimensional material. Such material properties were created by changing from a conventional three-dimensional material to a two-dimensional material. did you?”
“…”
He was silent for a while.
“Why is that?”
“I don’t know. Even if all materials are made 2D, I cannot guarantee that it will guarantee great performance. In fact, there are many materials that have worse properties by making them 2D from 3D. Of course, I discovered new materials. It’s just amazing what you did.”
That said, you wouldn’t know until you actually did it.
“So I’m trying to make it.”
“…… It won’t be easy to make either. Well, aside from that, what are you going to make?”
“Boron with atomic number 5. It is classified as a metalloid and is a stable substance. I’m trying to make boron into a two-dimensional material.”
Boron, which is classified as a metalloid, will show what kind of amazing performance if it is made into a two-dimensional structure like graphene?