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42 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2019 • Are they available when you need them? • What is their escalation policy for difficult support requests? • Is support free, or is it pay-per-incident? Conclusion The real key to optimizing the manufac- turability of your PCB designs is to choose tools, processes, and a manufacturing partner that meet your needs. Treat your parts sup- pliers, PCB manufacturer, and PCB fabrica- tor as members of your design team, priori- tizing open and persistent collaboration with each. This—along with adherence to your own DFM-focused process—will ensure board quality, manufacturability, and cost-effective - ness. DESIGN007 Bob Tise is an engineer at Sunstone Circuits. To read past columns or contact, click here. are using up-to-date footprint files throughout the design process. Highly manufacturable designs exist within a range of specifications. Good manufacturers can help you tweak your design to make the best use of range or wiggle room. This kind of designer-manufacturer communication about DFM can help save time, reduce costs, and even improve the functionality of your board. 5. Make Sure Help Is There When You Need It Choosing a manufacturing partner with read- ily available support staff can help you solve manufacturability puzzles during the design process rather than after submission. It's useful to ask a few questions about any potential man - ufacturing partner before deciding, including: • Do they make it easy to get competent technical support? • How quickly will they respond to your needs? • How can you get support for time-sensitive issues other than by email? Graphene is a promising material for use in nanoelectron- ics. However, its electronic properties depend greatly on how the edges of the carbon layer are formed. Zigzag patterns are particularly interesting in this respect, but until now, it has been virtually impossible to create edges with a pattern. A team of researchers from the Friedrich-Alexander-Uni - versität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) led by Dr. Konstantin Am- sharov from the Chair of Organic Chemistry II succeeded in developing a straightforward method for synthesizing zig- zag nanographene. Their procedure delivers a yield of close to 100% and is suitable for large scale production. They have already produced a technical- ly relevant quantity in the lab- oratory. First, the FAU researchers produced preliminary mol- ecules, which they then fit together in a honeycomb for- mation over several cycles— a process known as cyclisation. In the end, graphene frag- ments are produced from staggered rows of honeycombs or four-limbed stars surrounding a central point of four gra- phene honeycombs with the sought-after zigzag pattern to their edges. Why is this method able to produce stable zigzag nanogra- phene? The explanation lies in the fact that the product crys- tallizes directly even during synthesis. In their solid state, the molecules are not in contact with oxygen. In solution, howev- er, oxidation causes the structures to disintegrate quickly. This approach allows scientists to produce large pieces of graphene while maintaining control over their shape and periphery. This breakthrough in graphene research means that scientists should soon be able to produce and research a variety of interesting nanographene structures—a crucial step towards finally being able to use the material in nano - electronic components. (Source: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) Large, Stable Pieces of Graphene Produced With a Unique Edge Pattern