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'Bizarre' Nanobubbles Found In Strained Graphene

Posted by timothy on from the put-them-in-very-small-asylums dept.

schliz writes "Physicists have observed 'bizarre' behaviour in graphene electrons that they say could make the material even more suitable to replace silicon in future electronic devices. When strained in a particular manner, nanobubbles formed on a sheet of graphene, within which electrons came to occupy particular, quantum energy levels rather than the usual, continuous range of energies in unstrained graphene. By controlling electrons' energy levels, researchers could control how easily they moved through graphene — in effect, controlling their conductivity, optical, or microwave properties."

19 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. FINALLY! by Michael+Kristopeit · · Score: 4, Funny

    #3 PENCILS!

    1. Re:FINALLY! by rvw · · Score: 2, Funny

      #3 PENCILS!

      You got the wrong number. It should be like this:

      1. Embrace.
      2. Extend.
      3. Exclude.
      4. Extinguish.
      5. PENCILS!
      6. Profit!

  2. Technology reaching its limits? by Smidgin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    On the one hand, things like this are really cool and it's nice to know that there is a future for technology beyond silicon.

    On the other, at scales this small (1 atom thick!) it makes me realize how close we're getting to the fundamental limits that will prevent transistors getting denser or computers getting faster/better.

    1. Re:Technology reaching its limits? by dpilot · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ten-twenty years ago, science fiction had this nifty thing called "nanotech" that did all sorts of neat stuff. We still don't have Drexler machines, grey goo, or atomic-scale Digi-Comps, but I've been working sub-100nM for around 10 years now, getting smaller every generation, so we're getting into the ballpark.

      But science fiction is not to be outdone, a few years back I read "Pushing Ice"by Alastair Reynolds. They had femto-tech.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    2. Re:Technology reaching its limits? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3, Informative

      The second article is about John Singleton and the polarization synchrotron. Unfortunately that article, which has been regurgitated all over the net gets WAY ahead of itself. I wasn't able to find out whether Singleton actually claimed faster than light data transmission while talking to that reporter (I very much doubt it) or if the reporter made it up, but no such thing was demonstrated.

      This article is about the same thing and Singleton specifically says that special relativity is not violated, which means no information could be transmitted faster than light. The description of what's going on also makes it clear that the effect is very similar to the "waving a laser at the moon" example (used by Singleton himself), which does not involve any information transmission.

      The speed of light in a vacuum (yes, when people say "the speed of light" in this context they mean in a vacuum) isn't the sacred thing. Nor is relativity. The real sacred principle is causality which, like the conservation of energy, has never been observed to be violated and would lead to all kinds of weird stuff if it ever were.

      Maybe someone will one day figure out how to transmit a signal faster than light. At present no one has even described theoretically how it might reasonably be done.

      You say you're not a physicist. May I suggest you take a bit more humble approach when criticizing actual physicists? Oh, and don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

    3. Re:Technology reaching its limits? by BungaDunga · · Score: 2, Informative

      IANAPhysist either, but I am pretty good at math.

      Yes, FTL communication leads to causality violation. The "tachyon pistols" is a thought experiment that explains it:
      http://sheol.org/throopw/tachyon-pistols.html
      You can argue this, I guess, but it falls out of special relativity. If these experiments already done actually do propagate a signal faster than light then engineering a paradox would not be that hard, and that would be huge news.

      "By carefully adjusting the frequency of the voltage and the phase displacement the researchers say they can make the wave travel at greater than the speed of light. However no physical quantity of charge travels faster than light speed."
      The experiment in the article is fundamentally the same as sweeping a laser across the moon. As I read it, they're basically shoving the EM field enough that one part wiggles, then another part wiggles, and if you calculate the "speed" as if the wiggles were a wave moving from one place to another then you get a number faster than light. However, the wiggles aren't actually causing one another and don't transmit information in the direction of propagation.

      One of the funny things about special relativity is that subjective time slows down the faster something moves. An atomic clock in orbit ticks slower than one on the ground. When you hit the speed of light (you can't, if you've got mass, but say you're a photon) then time stops entirely. Photons do not experience time.

      Actually, all photons move at the speed of light. The apparent speed of light can slow down, by putting a bunch of atoms in the photon's way. The photon is absorbed and another is emitted, and that takes time. It's possible to take that emission and slow it down almost arbitrarily, "freezing" light.

  3. Hmmm, that's funny. by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny ...' " - Isaac Asimov.

    1. Re:Hmmm, that's funny. by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

      "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny ...' " - Isaac Asimov.

      Thus, the quickest way to advance science is to take a bunch of straight-faced, literal scientists to see a comedian.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    2. Re:Hmmm, that's funny. by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And on the other hand, the space elevator will not be developed until fifty years after everyone stops laughing. Now there's a paradox.

      You are malinformed, the space elevator EXISTS today and was created by Albert Hofmann.

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  4. Texas Instruments by RivenAleem · · Score: 5, Funny

    Released a statement that it was developing a new line of Graphene Calculators

    1. Re:Texas Instruments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Still no color

  5. There are no limits with OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    We are only reaching these fundamental limits because most research facilities insist on using closed source, proprietary software. If these organisations were to use open source software, like Linux, then people could inspect the source code of the software and make it better so that scientists could make more discoveries more quickly and overcome these 'fundamental' barriers.

    1. Re:There are no limits with OSS by binarylarry · · Score: 2, Funny

      RTFM NOOB

      --
      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  6. I, think, there, might, be... by morty_vikka · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... too, many, commas, in, this, summary.

  7. bizarre nanobubbles by commodoresloat · · Score: 4, Funny

    as opposed to the ordinary nanobubbles that you normally come across when you're straining your graphene

  8. Amazingly high pseudofield by mattr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    IANAP but my understanding is that the physical deformations or "bubbles" make electrons move in circles and attain energy levels as if in a magnetic field of 300 Teslas.
    The LHC's cryogenically cooled magnets are only about 8 Teslas, and their substance theoretically can only handle 10T. The world record for continuous magnetic field is about 14T. The highest ever created explosively in the lab is 800T or so. So this is a really big (virtual) magnetic field. In other words the electrons must be at really high energy levels.

    Some questions:
    Is the energy level of the electron just a wierd quantum mirage-like thing? Or is it a real energy level that would release energy if allowed to drop down?
    If you dropped a wire vertically onto the plate, would it create a current?
    If you pop a bubble say from friction or maybe chemically what happens?
    Is there any way to use this to perform experiments that could only be done in 300 T magnetic fields?
    Are they really bubbles? Does one layer of graphene bloom up and expand into the top shell of the bubble?
    Is it vacuum or air inside?

  9. Re:Grammar IS important. by OtzInOz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ever pause to consider that this may have been done intentionally as an example to demonstrate how bad grammar and punctuation can really fsck up the comprehension of a story?

    otz.

  10. They need to review the literature by Chelloveck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's because electrons act as waves rather than particles in graphene sheets. Old news. Dr. Sheldon Cooper proved this months ago. Keep up with the literature, people!

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
  11. Re:'Bizarre' Nanobubbles Found In Strained Graphen by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Funny

    exhibits 'bizarre' behaviour when put under strain, you mean like a woman.

    No, that would be "illogical and irrational" behavior, not bizarre behavior. And it doesn't even take strain.

    --
    Free Martian Whores!