The Next Big Thing

[Wolferz]

The most remarkable substance ever discovered.

Andre Geim, a Russian physicist, has discovered a way to produce Graphene a single atomic layer thick.

Move over Copper and Gold.

Geim enlisted the help of a Ph.D. student named Konstantin Novoselov, and they began working fourteen-hour days studying graphene. In the next two years, they designed a series of experiments that uncovered startling properties of the material. Because of its unique structure, electrons could flow across the lattice unimpeded by other layers, moving with extraordinary speed and freedom. It can carry a thousand times more electricity than copper. In what Geim later called “the first eureka moment,” they demonstrated that graphene had a pronounced “field effect,” the response that some materials show when placed near an electric field, which allows scientists to control the conductivity. A field effect is one of the defining characteristics of silicon, used in computer chips, which suggested that graphene could serve as a replacement—something that computer makers had been seeking for years.

Not bad for a fellow who won the Ignobel Prize for levitating a frog.