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Electrons Controlled in Graphene Using Scanning Tunnelling Microscope

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-10-24 17:14:08
Science

Scientists have used the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope to manipulate electrons [rutgers.edu] in graphene [wikipedia.org], potentially making the material usable for more applications:

Graphene – a one-atom-thick layer of the stuff in pencils – is a better conductor than copper and is very promising for electronic devices, but with one catch: Electrons that move through it can't be stopped.

Until now, that is. Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick [rutgers.edu] have learned how to tame the unruly electrons in graphene, paving the way for the ultra-fast transport of electrons with low loss of energy in novel systems. Their study was published online in Nature Nanotechnology [nature.com] [DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2017.181] [DX [doi.org]].

[...] [Eva Y. Andrei's] team managed to tame these wild electrons by sending voltage through a high-tech microscope with an extremely sharp tip, also the size of one atom. They created what resembles an optical system by sending voltage through a scanning tunneling microscope, which offers 3-D views of surfaces at the atomic scale. The microscope's sharp tip creates a force field that traps electrons in graphene or modifies their trajectories, similar to the effect a lens has on light rays. Electrons can easily be trapped and released, providing an efficient on-off switching mechanism, according to Andrei.

Related: Electrons Controlled in Graphene on a Sub-Femtosecond Scale Using Lasers [soylentnews.org]


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