The amazing carbon - 2010 Nobel prize in physics

Carbon has amazed us once again ! 

        These are notes taken down during Prof Sivram’s lecture @ IIA, on 2010 Nobel prize in physics 12^th Oct, Google for the more info, this may not be correct altogether, since I have a amateurish knowledge of physics, particle physics almost from a layman’s perspective.

Click-able links for the press release of 2010 Nobel prize & 2010 Nobel prize in Physics are below  : 

2010 Nobel Prizes

Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010

Congratulations to Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov  for winning the Nobel prize. The obtained or produced Graphene in lab. 

-          Suggested by Canadian theoretically 60 years back

-          Graphene – excellent conductor – can be used as substitution for silicon

-          Carbon based electronic circuits,  May be realized as a high performance transistor capable of operating more than 100 times the current ones.

-          Consists of single layer of carbon atoms, this was the most basic or simplest arrangement - form of carbon, but was discovered last. Since it is a layer of carbon items one slice think only, hence essentially 2 dimensional material

 -          Graphane is polymer of carbon & hydrogen i.e hydrogenation of Graphene produces Graphane

-          Graphane is stronger than steel , can be best described by phrase – exceptional combination of extreme properties

-          Finds applications in LCD’s, Solar cells.

The wiki links are  Graphane & Graphene

These laboratory experiments of obtaining or producing Graphene etc help in analyzing the aspects related to concepts such as Zitterbewegung, Klein paradox, Quantum Hall effect,  Anyon   etc  

PS : I will enrich the post when time permits 

-astrosunilnomy