Graphene Research Yields Nobel Prize in Physics

Two Researchers Received the Nobel Prize in physics today for Their work is graphene, a super-thin sheet of Carbon Atoms That has a potentially useful and unusual properties.

Andre Geim and Novoselov, Konstantin, Currently Professors at the University of Manchester, won the top prize for physics Their work has Isolating graphene from graphite - a more Ordinary form of carbon used in pencils - and characterizing ITS behavior.

Graphene Holds Potential for Transforming profoundly materials science - everything from computer chips and flexible displays Thurs solar cells and lighter aircraft. Such Products aren't on the verge of hitting store shelves, But the research is active - for example, IBM's work is graphene transistors.

"As a material it is Completely new - not only the thinnest ever But Also The Strongest. As a conductor of Electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all Other Known materials. It Is Almost Completely transparent, yet so dense That Not Even helium, the gas atom Smallest, CAN pass through it, "the Swedish Academy of Sciences said in ITS Nobel Prize announcement. "Carbon, the Basis of All Known Life on Earth, has surprised us once again."

Physicists Already Knew graphite was composed of sheets of Carbon Atoms Arranged in a hexagonal array, But Until Novoselev Geim and isolated graphene in 2004, it wasn't clear graphene That Could exist in a stable form by Itself.

They isolated graphene using an Almost laughably mundane technique - peeling a layer off a graphite crystal using Scotch tape. Although Their Production Method May Have Been low-tech, The Same Can not Be Said for the hardwork Necessary Thurs confirm That the layer HAD Been Transferred onto a silicon substrate for study.

Graphene is a close relative of Other Novel Arrangements of Carbon Atoms - Which nanotubes in the sheet is rolled into a tube shape and buckminsterfullerene, the 60-atom spheres Also called the buckyballs.

One of graphene's top properties is ITS Ability Thurs Conduct Electricity. It's no superconductor, But it loses Relatively little Energy to resistance compared with most materials. It Could Be Used, for example, To Make A conductive plastic.

It's also strong - a square meter of graphene Tied Between Two Trees Would Be Strong Enough to Support More Than 8 pounds. Not bad for a transparent sheet one atom thick That Would Weigh Less Than a thousandth of a gram.

So far, sheets as wide as 70cm Have Been fabricated, the academy said.