Samsung Apple smartphone new battlefield: two-dimensional graphene

According to foreign media reports, Samsung Electronics and Apple's main battlefield in the global smart phone market has been transferred from the court to the laboratory, will compete for graphene technology patents used by the next generation of devices. Graphite is a high tech version of cling film that is a conductive, transparent material that can be stretched on the glass surface of a phone or tablet to become a touch screen. It is lighter, more powerful and more flexible than current technology materials and is the future of accessories such as flexible smartwatches or tablets that can be folded into smartphones.

Its immense potential has led Samsung, Apple and Google to start accumulating graphene-related patents in part because sales of so-called wearable computing devices will be 14x in 5. Although Apple's ruling on Samsung's infringement this month resulted in Samsung losing $ 120 million, it is like an early leader in this intellectual property contest.

"A new era opens for a new era in which mobile devices will truly be flexible enough to fold and unfold easily, which is when we need graphene." Daishin Securities Co., an analysis in Seoul, South Korea Claire Kim said. The first companies to commercialize graphene technology for mobile devices will have advantages over other businesses in the industry.

Two-dimensional graphene

According to the 2013 report of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Samsung already has 405 applications that have been released, far exceeding those of other competitors. According to data from the US Patent and Trademark Office, Samsung owns 38 patents in the United States and at least 17 applications that use the word "graphene" in the invention profile. Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, California, has at least two graphene-related patent applications. Other companies, including IBM and Foxconn, also have registered graphene patents.

Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov of the University of Manchester won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on graphene and graphene is so thin So initially it was defined as two-dimensional.

Graphene is a single layer of graphite, atoms are closely linked in the hexagonal lattice, making this material is very solid and flexible. Together with its transparency and electrical conductivity, this material is the ideal material for making flexible touch displays.

Limitations of innovation

Market potential is boundless for manufacturers of consumer electronics. According to Yankee Group, a market research firm, global sales of mobile devices could reach 847 billion U.S. dollars by 2016. According to a 2013 headquartered in England based market research firm Juniper Research, the market for wearable technology is expected to turn 14 times in five years, with sales of up to $ 19 billion.

To exploit this limitless potential, the world's largest electronics manufacturer is working with researchers such as Professor Hong Byung Hee of Seoul National University in South Korea, who is inventing a large-scale patent for graphene-based displays. "Global technology companies are facing the limitations of innovation in hardware and design, and in order to move to the next stage, they have to adopt new materials like graphene," said Hong. "Many companies are very interested in the graphene technology we are researching, including Apple, Samsung and even Google."

"Key" patents

Professor Hong said his company, Graphene Square Inc., owns a patent that enables the manufacture of layers up to 50 inches (1.27 meters diagonally), which is equivalent to five times the length of an Apple iPad. The current conductive film commonly used in touch screens of mobile devices is Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), but this material is too brittle for flexible displays and for devices larger than 10 inches, they Not durable, said Lee Sung Chul, an analyst with Shinyoung Securities Co., an investment firm in Seoul, South Korea.

Hung's patent "is very important for the mass production of cost-effective, large-scale graphene for touch screens," said Whang Dong Mok, School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. He predicts that in the next five years, Wearable devices made of graphene appear.

However, Samsung declined to comment on Professor Hung's patent interest, with Apple spokesman Kristin Huguet and Google spokesman Matt Kallman both refusing to do that Reply Hogat also declined to give details of Apple's research on graphene.

Google Glass

Graphene can be used in three product categories, and Samsung is home to the largest global market share of these three products: smartphones, memory chips and TVs. "Graphene is more durable than steel and has higher thermal conductivity and flexibility, making it an ideal material for making flexible displays, wearable devices and other next-generation electronics," Samsung said.

Samsung's first-quarter earnings released on April 29 showed that its demand for Galaxy devices far exceeded analyst expectations, and Samsung sold Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches in 125 countries last month.

Google started the prototype design of Google's smart glasses in 2012 and held a one-day flash-drive last month, enabling consumers to buy Google Glass for $ 1,500. It is said that Apple is also preparing to launch a wearable device like a watch.

Graphene is 100 times more conductive than silicon, which makes it very valuable in other ways as well. It boosts the speed of semiconductors, and researchers have applied the material to batteries, allowing smartphones to last up to a single charge for a single charge and recharge in just 15 minutes.

EU research

In October 2013, the European Commission announced that it will provide initial funding of up to $ 1 billion for up to 10 years of graphene research and development. Samsung Advanced Technology Research Institute said on April 4 that after working with scientists at Sungkyunkwan University, it has developed a way to commercialize this material for use in silicon.

Professor Hong, who owns 70% of Graphene Square, said he did not intend to sell the patent to Google or Apple, but he is willing to license the company. He is also seeking investment from other companies to build graphene films needed for mass production of touchscreen panels by building factories and state-of-the-art equipment. Hung also believes that the future of graphene applications include spacesuit as well as "smart" shoes and clothing with sensor, chip and display features. Its heat dissipation means that firefighters can also wear these products.

Jiwoong Park, an assistant professor at Cornell University in New York, said other applications include medical equipment or space technology. He led a team of 10 researchers focusing on graphene technology. "There are many incredible and exciting opportunities for graphene in all its aspects." (Emily)