«The electric field around the cell pushes
away electrons in graphene's electron cloud,» he said, which changes the vibration energy of the carbon atoms.
Although both samples were treated in the same way, they exhibited different nitrogen concentrations, but almost identical electronic doping: not all nitrogen atoms were integrated in the graphene lattice, nevertheless the number
of electrons in the graphene rose as if this were the case.
José Sánchez - Dehesa and Daniel Torrent at the Polytechnic University of Valencia claim that the sound moves in the same way
as electrons in graphene, with almost no losses (Physical Review Letters, DOI: 10.1103 / PhysRevLett.108.174301).
Andrei says now that physicists have spotted this effect, they may
see electrons in graphene joining together in completely new and even weirder ways.
Because electrons in graphene move very quickly and scatter little (see «Ballistic electrons»), computer chips made from graphene could in theory be both faster and experience far less noise from electron jostling than existing silicon chips.
Among other things, they can now better predict the behavior
of electrons in graphene, a flat sheet of carbon just a single atom thick, which acts like a strange metal under certain conditions.
The electrons in graphene have a famous property: They form a «Dirac cone,» in which their momentum and energy are related in much the same way as happens in light.
In fact, Andrei says, the researchers saw the effect at higher temperatures and lower magnetic fields than are needed to see it in semiconductors, suggesting that
the electrons in graphene interact especially strongly.
Placed on top of one another, a redistribution of
electrons in the graphene can be seen.
By shedding light on the fundamental kinetic properties of
electrons in graphene, this research may also provide a basis for the creation of miniaturized circuits with tiny, graphene - based components.
The initial construction was one atom thick, but it proved too thin and failed to shield
the electrons in the graphene from outside influences.
They managed to do that by capturing light in a net of carbon atoms and slowing down light it down so that it moves almost as slow as
the electrons in the graphene.
On top of the graphene is a very thin layer, just a few atoms thick, of boron nitride, which protects
the electrons in the graphene from outside influences.
Harvard's Kim says that this work «is an important step toward building novel electronic applications, based on the unique relativistic quantum - mechanical behavior of
electrons in graphene.»
Moreover, these magnetic moments interact strongly with
the electrons in graphene which carry electrical currents, giving rise to a significant extra electrical resistance at low temperature, known as the Kondo effect.