Devices made of new materials are of interest in the EDS community. Max Lemme is one of those researchers, who concentrates with his research group at AMO and RWTH Aachen on devices made of 2D materials like Graphene.

Max is the protagonist of a short video produced by Arte for series Verknüpft (Linked). The video explores the connection between a common pencil and a self-driving car. That connection is graphene – or better nanotechnology based on graphene, like the one developed by Lemme’s group at AMO and RWTH. 

Many of the technologies that are shaping our world – artificial intelligence, the internet of things, autonomous driving – will soon require not only new software, but also radically new hardware. Graphene and related materials are ideally suited for developing devices and sensors with novel functionalities and higher energy efficiency than what achievable with current silicon technology, and this is why they will play an important role for the self-driving car of the future.

The 7-minute video (in German) can be found at YouTube “Was verbindet Bleistifte und selbstfahrende Autos? | Verknüpft | ARTE” at the address:

Research on graphene and 2D materials at AMO is financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Article provided by Federica Haupt (AMO)