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Materials Science

Erasing electron mass

Nature volume 438, pages 168–170 (2005)Cite this article

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. Although graphite has been studied for decades, graphene was only isolated in 2004 after a long struggle. The successful method was astonishingly simple: starting with a graphite crystal, layers of carbon atoms were peeled off one by one with adhesive tape, until a single-layer flake was left1. In this issue, Novoselov et al. (page 197)2 and Zhang et al. (page 201)3 investigate the properties of graphene further, showing it to be a remarkable conductor in which electrons mimic the behaviour of massless, relativistic particles.

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Figure 1: Slim, strong and a live wire.

References

  1. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Science 306, 666–669 (2004).

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  2. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Nature 438, 197–200 (2005).

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  3. Zhang, Y., Tan, Y. -W., Stormer, H. L. & Kim, P. Nature 438, 201–204 (2005).

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  1. the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, 10104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Charles L. Kane

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  1. Charles L. Kane
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Kane, C. Erasing electron mass. Nature 438, 168–170 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/438168a

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