Tag: graphene
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Turning graphene into an AC/DC quantum ratchet
Just as a ratchet allows rotation in one direction but not the other, quantum ratchets break the symmetry of a microscopic system to facilitate preferential motion in one direction or another. Graphene is a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms. As such, it’s highly symmetrical, but beneath that lurks a potentially exploitable hidden asymmetry. If…
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Not quite ready for the Diamond Age
In his science fiction novel The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson describes a world filled with electronic paper, tiny flexible computers, and transparent displays. Graphene—a crystal comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms—is perhaps the most promising material to make that world real (though hopefully without the universal surveillance state and environmental collapse that are…
Bowler Hat Science 