Carbon-based integrated circuits offer excellent performance and broad application prospects in fields such as ultra-high-speed communications, high-performance computing, 6G RF, nuclear energy detection, brain-computer interfaces, biomedical imaging, and high-performance sensors.

Carbon-based integrated circuits are a new-generation chip technology with carbon-based materials at their core, and represent a key direction for breaking through the physical limits of silicon in the post-Moore era.

Carbon-based materials refer to materials with carbon as the main element, including silicon carbide (SiC), diamond (C), graphite, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerenes, graphdiyne, graphene, and others. Carbon-based materials feature good stability, excellent heat dissipation, and outstanding electrical properties, making them preferred candidates for manufacturing integrated circuits.

Taking carbon nanotubes as an example, carbon nanotubes are tubular nanomaterials composed of carbon atoms. Based on their conductivity, carbon nanotubes are classified into metallic carbon nanotubes and semiconducting carbon nanotubes. Among them, semiconducting carbon nanotubes are the core material for carbon-based integrated circuits. Integrated circuits based on them achieve comprehensive performance hundreds of times higher than silicon-based integrated circuits, and offer advantages such as low cost and low power consumption.

Carbon-based integrated circuits offer excellent performance and broad application prospects in fields such as ultra-high-speed communications, high-performance computing, 6G RF, nuclear energy detection, brain-computer interfaces, biomedical imaging, and high-performance sensors. However, carbon-based integrated circuit technology involves high technical barriers and significant fabrication challenges. Process difficulties include the preparation, growth, and processing of high-purity carbon-based materials, optimization of array arrangement, optimization of electrode contacts, symmetry control of gate control, and expansion of integration scale.

According to the "2026-2030 In-Depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Recommendations Report for the Carbon-Based Integrated Circuit Industry" released by Xinsijie Industry Research Center, carbon-based integrated circuits are a global R&D hotspot. Global research institutions and enterprises, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Analog Devices (ADI), TSMC, IMEC, Samsung Electronics of South Korea, Peking University and the Peking University Chongqing Carbon-Based Integrated Circuit Research Institute, Huawei HiSilicon, the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Suzhou Xijing Semiconductor, are all conducting engineering R&D on carbon-based integrated circuits.

The Peking University Chongqing Carbon-Based Integrated Circuit Research Institute (jointly established by Peking University and the Chongqing Municipal Government) has built China's first carbon-based integrated circuit production line, which has now begun mass production, marking a solid step forward for China's carbon-based integrated circuits toward engineering application. Suzhou Xijing Semiconductor has achieved stable mass production of semiconducting carbon nanotubes at 99.99999% purity and above, built an 8-inch carbon nanotube wafer pilot line, and established a complete process from material purification to standardized wafer rollout.

According to analysts at Xinsijie Industry, China's overall R&D level in carbon-based integrated circuits is on par with that of developed countries, with some research achievements at the international leading level. At present, carbon-based integrated circuits have moved past the "laboratory principle verification" stage and are steadily advancing toward large-scale mass production and full-scenario commercial validation. It is expected that between 2027 and 2030, carbon-based integrated circuits are expected to achieve commercial deployment in multiple segmented scenarios and gradually penetrate the scaled market.