2010 Nobel Prize in Physics: Background information and a statement by AIP Executive Director and CEO

WASHINGTON, DC, 5 October 2010 — THE 2010 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS will be awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester, U.K. for their pioneering work with graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon. Discovered in 2004 by Geim and his colleagues, graphene is an extraordinary and versatile material. It has these properties:

It is the best known conductor of electricity at room temperature. Electrons move very quickly through graphene, and lose little energy along the way. It is the strongest material known, and is expected to be used in composite materials. It is transparent and might be useful for electronic displays. It might be an able source of terahertz radiation, a difficult-to-make form of light. It will probably be possible to make integrated circuits to be made from a single sheet of graphene. Pictures and images

NIST image Image of graphene Image of strength tests Graphene illustration from 2010 American Physical Society March meeting Related Physics News Update items Stories we have covered in past issues of our news alert service Physics News Update

Geim has new speed record Geim and his accomplishments since graphene discovery Experts in this general subject area

Philip Kim, Columbia University, electrical properties Allan MacDonald, University of Texas at Austin, (512) 232-9113 Walt de Heer, Georgia Tech Phaeton Avouris, IBM, integrated circuits, (914) 945-2722 Harold Craighead, Cornell University, mechanical properties of graphene, (607) 255-8707 Joseph Stroscio, NIST, (301) 975-3716 Websites

Nobel Prize site Geim’s site with links to valuable articles in Physics World, Physics Today, and Scientific American APS News review of graphene history Scientific American article Geim article in Physics Today News item in Physics Today Statement by Dr. H. Frederick Dylla, Executive Director and CEO of the American Institute of Physics, who happens to be in Germany at the moment:

“Graphene is a splendid material, and its rapid rise to fame shows how quickly science can respond to new discoveries. Within a year or so of Andre Geim’s and Konstantin Novoselov’s first work with graphene, it became the subject of dozens of sessions at large science meetings. Many scientists, seeing a rich research opportunity, stopped what they were doing and turned to graphene.”

Links to AIP Journal articles involving graphene or Geim

Direct determination of the crystallographic orientation of graphene edges by atomic resolution imaging Quantum resistance metrology in graphene Raman fingerprint of charged impurities in graphene Making graphene visible Graphene: Exploring carbon flatland Submicron sensors of local electric field with single-electron resolution at room temperature Spin-polarized electron tunneling across magnetic dielectric Submicron probes for Hall magnetometry over the extended temperature range from helium to room temperature Diamagnetic levitation: Flying frogs and floating magnets (invited) Tales of Bitter Magnetism: Frog Eggs, Blood Cells, Pigeon Feet, Metal Shreds and a Sore Head Everyone’s Magnetism Ballistic Hall micromagnetometry Zero‐dimensional states in macroscopic resonant tunneling devices Optical suppression of ionized impurity scattering in vertical hot‐electron transport Additional Pictures Pictures of Nobelists available from Wikipedia:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andre_Geim_2010-1.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andre_Geim_2010-2.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geim.jpg