The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced the creation of the MIT/MTL Center for Graphene Devices and Systems (MIT-CG). This interdepartmental center, part of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), brings together MIT researchers and industrial partners to advance the science and engineering of graphene-based technologies.

Graphene, a form of pure carbon arranged in an hexagonal lattice just one atom thick, has generated great excitement among researchers worldwide for its unique properties that stand to revolutionize materials science and electronics. Until recently, most studies have focused on the basic physical properties of graphene. Work at the new Center will go beyond this research, exploring advanced technologies and strategies that will lead to graphene-based materials, devices and systems for a variety of applications, including graphene-enabled systems for energy generation, smart fabrics and materials, radio-frequency communications, and sensing, to name a few.

"The unique structure and properties of graphene have the potential to impact numerous industries,” says Tomas Palacios, the Emanuel E. Landsman Career Development Associate Professor of Electronics at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and first Director of the MIT-CG. “The new MIT/MTL Center for Graphene Devices and Systems will be a driving force in exploring the numerous applications for graphene, and will create a vision for the future of graphene-enabled systems.”

This Center benefits from very close collaboration with industrial partners. According to Michael Strano, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Co-director of the Center. “This academic-industrial partnership is essential to the advancement of both fundamental graphene science, and of emerging technological applications. One of the main goals of the Center is to create an environment that fosters this collaboration.”

The Center coordinates the work of the more than 15 MIT research groups working on graphene, and leverages several existing collaborative efforts in graphene science that exist on campus, including a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant (MURI) from the Office of Naval Research with Harvard and Boston University, as well as a regular Boston-Area CarbOn Nanoscience (BACON) Meeting.

The kick-off meeting of the MIT/MTL Center for Graphene Devices and Systems was held at MIT on July 28th, 2011 with important participation from industry and government agencies.

For more information, please visit: www-mtl.mit.edu/wpmu/graphene