Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered how to create disappearing graphene circuits that could be used to create temporary electrical devices, according to Gizmodo.
Their findings were released in a study, published in the journal Nanoscale.
The study deposited carbon atoms on graphene with a focused electron beam process, allowing them to develop a technique that creates unique patterns on the surface of graphene, according to Phys. These patterns could be used to create electronic circuits that change, evolve and even disappear over time.
"We will now be able to draw electronic circuits that evolve over time," said Andrei Fedorov, co-author of the study. "You could design a circuit that operates one way now, but after waiting a day for the carbon to diffuse over the graphene surface, you would no longer have an electronic device. Today the device would do one thing; tomorrow it would do something entirely different."
The researchers plan to use their experimental technique to create devices that can be modified in order to reconfigure or disappear at different rates. These findings could offer plenty of potential for the biomedical and security industries, according to Science Daily.
"We have made a critical step in discovery and understanding," said Fedorov. "The next step will be to demonstrate a complicated and unique application which would otherwise be impossible to do with a conventional circuit. That would bring a whole new level of excitement to this."
