Researchers in the United States and France believe ultra thin layers of graphite, or graphene, may be the basis for new electronic devices.

In work at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, researchers have found electron transport properties comparable to those in carbon nanotubes.

We have shown that we can make the graphene material, that we can pattern it, and that its transport properties are very good, said Walt de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Physics.

De Heer cautioned that practical applications are likely to be a decade away. But he said graphene nanotubes can be produced using established microelectronic techniques, making high-volume production likely.