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Nature 438, 168-170 (10 November 2005) | doi:10.1038/438168a; Published online 9 November 2005

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Materials Science: Erasing electron mass

Charles L. Kane1

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Two-dimensional graphite could be useful in carbon-based electronic devices. How electrons move in these structures seems best described by relativistic quantum physics, modelling them as if they have no mass at all.

Graphite, the form of carbon found in pencil lead, leaves its mark thanks to weakly coupled layers of atoms that slide easily over one another. A single such layer — a two-dimensional sheet of carbon a single atom thick — is known as graphene.

  1. Charles L. Kane is in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 10104, USA.
    Email: kane@physics.upenn.edu

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