It's obvious that our current Silicon semiconductors work, otherwise you wouldn't have your computer to read this news story right now. But there is a limitation to the size of Silicon transistors. Currently, a number of manufacturers are moving from their 85 nanometer process down to a 65 nanometer process. The current record is 45 nanometers in the lab, with the physical limitation for Silicon transistors being around the 30 nanometer range. At that range aspects of voltage leakage and production accuracy issues come into play. So don't expect 25 nanometer chips anytime soon.

But back to the announcement.

Researchers from Britain's University of Manchester have created prototype transistors from Graphene, a form of Carbon that is just a single atom thick. Though they did first create this Graphene material two years ago, there were some initial difficulties with replicating the switching action of traditional Silicon transistors in this new Graphene material. But science does prevail and they have developed the first (hopefully of many) Graphene transistors that will switch like their Silicon counterparts.

The real benefit of Graphene is that unlike Silicon, Graphene will remain perfectly stable in strips that are only a few nanometers wide, like at 12 nanometers or less. We could never hit a stable 12 nanometers with Silicon, even if we really, really tried. But with Graphene the prospect for further miniaturization is realized. I for one would like an Octa-Core processor. So it may be that future electronic circuits may be carved from sheets of Graphene rather than Silicon.

But there are some complications to overcome. Currently, there is no technology that can cut material with such insane accuracy. "At the present time no technology can cut individual elements with nanometer precision. We have to rely on chance by narrowing our ribbons to a few nanometers in width," said lead researcher Leonid Ponomarenko.

Andre Geim, director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, suggests Graphene-based circuits will not come into their own before 2025.

He also believes Graphene is the only viable successor to silicon: "This material combines many enticing features from other technologies that have been considered as alternatives to the silicon-based technology," he said. "Graphene combines most exciting features from carbon-nanotube, single-electron and molecular electronics, all in one." Geim is the researcher who had originally led the team that had discovered Graphene.

It looks as if we are slowly moving toward a Carbone based world. For example; Graphite ( a Carbon based dry lubricant where the atoms are arranged in 'sheets' with weak bonds between the layers, giving rise to its lubricant properties) and diamonds (where they form a regular and very strong crystal lattice). Researchers have compared the arrangement of Carbon atoms in Graphene to something like three-dimensional chicken wire, but with a slight undulation in that third dimension that gives added strength to the structure.

Graphene could also see other applications. It could help to increase the resolution and definition of electron microscope images It could also separate gases with a tiny molecular sieve. Perhaps it could even be crafted into a slightly coarser (yet still small) mesh that could filter salt water and waste water for purposes of drinking and or environmental clean-up. Maybe a Graphene mesh could filter the exhaust gases from factories and cars to reduce or eliminate Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, and other harmful emissions.

There's near countless possibilities in store. Too bad it'll take decades to see them.