Narrator:       This is Science Today. Graphene is a material comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms that's arranged in a honeycomb lattice formation. It's been dubbed a ‘wonder material' in scientific communities due to its many interesting properties.

Lau:               Graphene is just very, very strong but it's softer than Saran wrap, you can stretch it and stretch and it will not break.

Narrator:       Physicist Jeanie Lau of the University of California, Riverside, who is a graphene expert, says the material's high current-carrying capacity and thermal conductivity is especially suited for creating components for semiconductor circuits and computers.

Lau:               It's actually widely known that silicon is probably not going to do it for another 20 years; and what to use to replace silicon has been really the major challenge for both scientific and the technological sector. Graphene is, I will say, probably the most promising material to supplement or replace silicon.

Narrator:       For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.