Stockholm, Sweden--The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both from the University of Manchester (Manchester, England), "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene."
The Nobel committee says that a thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick, lies behind this year's Nobel Prize in Physics. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov have shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of quantum physics.
Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new--not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. With graphene, physicists can now study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. Graphene makes experiments possible that give new twists to the phenomena in quantum physics. Also a vast variety of practical applications now appear possible including the creation of new materials and the manufacture of innovative electronics. Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today's silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers. And because graphene is practically transparent and a good conductor, it is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels, and maybe even solar cells.
This year's Laureates have been working together for a long time. Konstantin Novoselov, 36, first worked with Andre Geim, 51, as a PhD-student in the Netherlands. He subsequently followed Geim to the United Kingdom. Both of them originally studied and began their careers as physicists in Russia. Now they are both professors at the University of Manchester.
SOURCE: Official Nobel Prize Web Site; http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/press.html
Posted by:Gail Overton
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