Graphene Researchers Geim and Novoselov Win Nobel Prize in Physics

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=geim-novoselov-physics-novel
Graphene Researchers Geim and Novoselov Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Sheets of one-dimensional carbon have been on the scene for just six years but have already drawn a wealth of research interest
John Matson |October 5, 2010

The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two research pioneers working on graphene, a material that could have myriad high-tech applications, which they first produced by decidedly low-tech means. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both of the University of Manchester in England, won the prize for their work producing and characterizing the material, which is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon resembling a nanoscale chicken wire. Graphene is transparent, strong, and a good conductor of electricity, making it an attractive material for a number of electronics applications.

Novoselov was a postdoctoral fellow working in Geim's lab in 2004 when the researchers discovered that they could form such thin slabs of carbon by repeatedly cleaving graphite—essentially pencil lead—with Scotch tape. Their 2004 Science paper describing the material and its the electrical properties has already been cited more than 3,000 times, according to Thomson Web of Science.

The Nobel Prize comes with a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor, equal to about $1.5 million U.S. dollars.