The discovery that stuck — 20 years of graphene (original) (raw)

In 2004, physicists reported something remarkable: they had isolated ultrathin films of carbon atoms using sticky tape alone, and found that the films had astounding properties. The finding would forever change condensed-matter physics.

By

  1. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
    1. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero is in the Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.

There is a physics theorem that states that quantum fluctuations prevent crystalline (or any other) order from existing in two dimensions1. Imagine, then, the puzzled faces of the referees who first read a paper reporting direct experimental evidence that atomically thin films of graphite not only exist, but are stable at room temperature — and conduct electricity remarkably well. What had prevented those layers of carbon atoms from melting or even flying off in fragments? It turns out that real life doesn’t always abide by the assumptions of mathematical theorems. The referees evidently agreed, and so, 20 years ago, Science published a paper in which Novoselov et al.2 showed that layers of ‘graphene’ could exist.

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Nature 634, 789-790 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03311-7

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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