madbadgalaxyman
17-06-2013, 07:35 PM
The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Geim and Novoselov for isolating graphene and characterizing its properties; they isolated graphene by applying sticky tape to ordinary graphite of the sort that is found in a pencil!!
(in fact, when you write on a piece of paper with a pencil, some of the material that is transferred onto the page is graphene.....)
Graphene is a single-layer sheet of (hexagonally configured) carbon atoms, while graphite is composed of very-numerous extremely-thin sheets of graphene, stacked on top of each other. Graphene is a two-dimensional crystalline material that is only one atom thick. It is nearly transparent, and flexible.
Graphene research is now all the rage, while carbon nanotube research seems to be receding somewhat into the background. This is probably because graphene sheets are relatively easy to make into various structures, while carbon nanotubes are very difficult to fabricate into something useful!
Graphene has very high Thermal and Electrical conductivity, so it shows great promise in micro- and nano- scale electronics.
Recently, this intriguing form of carbon has also been shown to have great potential as a photosensor; its ability to convert photons into electric current may potentially rival or exceed the performance of CCDs. Here is a quick news report on this discovery:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/consumer-electronics/gadgets/graphene-image-sensor-1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light
If you go to:
http://scholar.google.com
and then do a search using the title of the relevant paper which shows that graphene can be configured so as to have a high photoresponse, it is possible to find a version of the paper which is not hidden behind "Nature" magazine's "Pay mega-dollars" paywall.
Search on the following words, including the quotation marks;
"Broadband high photoresponse from pure monolayer graphene photodetector"
(last I checked, there was a pdf file accessible to the right of the title of the paper)
Cheers,
Robert
A very Interesting paper: a bit of interesting physics always gets those brain cells working a bit harder!
A considerably easier , but still rigorous and detailed, explanation about graphene can be found on the Nobel Prize website under the heading of the 2010 physics prize:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/#
(in fact, when you write on a piece of paper with a pencil, some of the material that is transferred onto the page is graphene.....)
Graphene is a single-layer sheet of (hexagonally configured) carbon atoms, while graphite is composed of very-numerous extremely-thin sheets of graphene, stacked on top of each other. Graphene is a two-dimensional crystalline material that is only one atom thick. It is nearly transparent, and flexible.
Graphene research is now all the rage, while carbon nanotube research seems to be receding somewhat into the background. This is probably because graphene sheets are relatively easy to make into various structures, while carbon nanotubes are very difficult to fabricate into something useful!
Graphene has very high Thermal and Electrical conductivity, so it shows great promise in micro- and nano- scale electronics.
Recently, this intriguing form of carbon has also been shown to have great potential as a photosensor; its ability to convert photons into electric current may potentially rival or exceed the performance of CCDs. Here is a quick news report on this discovery:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/consumer-electronics/gadgets/graphene-image-sensor-1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light
If you go to:
http://scholar.google.com
and then do a search using the title of the relevant paper which shows that graphene can be configured so as to have a high photoresponse, it is possible to find a version of the paper which is not hidden behind "Nature" magazine's "Pay mega-dollars" paywall.
Search on the following words, including the quotation marks;
"Broadband high photoresponse from pure monolayer graphene photodetector"
(last I checked, there was a pdf file accessible to the right of the title of the paper)
Cheers,
Robert
A very Interesting paper: a bit of interesting physics always gets those brain cells working a bit harder!
A considerably easier , but still rigorous and detailed, explanation about graphene can be found on the Nobel Prize website under the heading of the 2010 physics prize:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/#