Moore’s law, the unwritten rule of electrical engineering which states that integrated circuit transistor density doubles roughly every two years, has finally met its match. Here’s how graphene broke Moore’s law…
Scientists at Tsinghua University in Shanghai claim to have engineered a transistor gate — a fundmanetal electronic component designed to switch transistors on and off — just .34 nanometers across.
That’s about the size of a carbon atom.
“In the future, it will be almost impossible for people to make a gate length smaller than 0.34 nm,” commented Tian-Ling Ren, the senior author of the paper describing the achievement. “This could be the last node for Moore’s Law.”
And with Moore’s law, the entire concept of miniaturization — which has brought technological development this far — will go as well.
And what’s behind this double-edged sword of this technological milestone?
None other than a manmade nanostructure that you’ve probably been hearing a lot about lately: graphene.
Graphene… The Wonder Material That Almost Wasn’t
Given its status as the world’s most efficient known conductor of both heat and electricity, it’s no surprise that graphene was integral to this breakthrough.
It was, afterall, engineered from the very beginning to operate at an atomic scale.
But it wasn’t always like this.
Since graphene’s first appearance on the world stage close to 20 years ago, we’ve heard lots of promises about what it can and will do for humanity.
From biotechnological implants to superconductors to cancer-zapping nanobots, everything radical that was not possible in the past would be possible in the future thanks to this alien-level super material.
The hype lasted a few years, and sometime around a decade ago, finally started to die down.
Too many promises made, and too few delivered.
Graphene’s most impressive achievement back then was probably its cost of production, which was hovering somewhere around the $4000/ounce territory, making it more than twice the cost of gold.
When The Retail Investment World Forgets Something, Keep An Eye On It
Things went quiet, and the story was largely forgotten… Dismissed as yet another myth to distract the masses.
That quiet persisted until right around the end of last year.
The graphene story has made a very visible resurgance over the last few months, only this time it’s not promises being made, but quantifiable achievements.
Thanks to additional breakthroughs in materials science, what was once theoretical is now reality.
The nanoscopic transistor gate you read about earlier will probably represent a high water mark for integrated circuit design — a truly historical moment not just for science but for humanity as a whole.
But there are other, more under-the-radar applications of the material which you’re probably not hearing about.
For example, there’s a company headquartered in Brisbane, Australia that’s developed a graphene-based rechargeable battery which charges up to 70x faster than lithium ion.
It makes charging your phone or your car a minute-long affair, after which you’re rewarded with 2-3 times the charge capacity of your standard lithium batteries, as well as an equally greater charge cycle lifespan.
The batteries are 100% lithium free, completely fire-safe, and the graphene within them is manufactured in-house using a proprietary method that requires nothing more than natural gas and electricity.
Graphene From Almost Nothing
And these too are no longer just lofty concepts from an engineer’s fantasies. These batteries are real, and already in early stages of mass production.
We could see commercialization of the coin and pouch format batteries on the open market by next year.
Can you imagine what the automobile market would do with a battery pack that can be charged faster than a standard ICE car can be fueled at the pump?
It’s a scary image, just as it’s scary to imagine what the share price of this virtual unknown battery maker will be once full scale commercialization ramps up.
Because as you’re reading this, shares of this Australian advanced materials firm are trading on two North American exchanges at a market capitalization of less than $50M USD.
And yet it controls an asset which could disrupt a near $100B/year rechargeable battery market — a market which is set to more than double before the end of the decade.
My readers have already done well trading this stock as the tech trends have ebbed and flowed over the last couple years, but right now, it’s trading at utterly oversold prices.
Buy When There’s Blood In The Streets… Which Is Right Now
I’m talking less than ⅕ where it was in the heady days of 2022 when the battery craze was at its peak.
Today’s depressed prices are especially confounding considering that demand for batteries is making new highs on a monthly basis as we head towards global decarbonization.
This is easily one of the most prospective company’s in the space, and yet, we are where we are.
I believe that this state of affairs is only temporary.
As the retail investment world reels from the end of the lithium bubble, professional investors and season speculators are building their positions in the future of decarbonization.
Which makes now both the scariest and most advantageous time to buy — and that’s usually the way it works.
It’s the fear that keeps the retail sheep away, while attracting those destined to get rich (or richer) as the market mood swings back to optimistic.
Want to learn more about this company before that swing starts?
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