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Graphene, a material formed of a mesh of hexagonal carbon atoms, has, according to ExtremeTech author Ryan Whitwam, “many fantastic properties that could change the course of human civilization. It’s chemically stable, highly conductive, and incredibly strong.” In a recent New Yorker article, John Colapinto stated graphene “may be the most remarkable substance ever discovered.” One thing graphene is not, however, is magnetic. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed a way to induce magnetism in graphene while preserving its electronic properties. The research team did this by bringing a single sheet of graphene into close proximity to...

Menlo Park, Calif.—Move over, silicon—it may be time to give the Valley a new name. Physicists at the Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have confirmed the existence of a type of material that could one day provide dramatically faster, more efficient computer chips. Recently-predicted and much-sought, the material allows electrons on its surface to travel with no loss of energy at room temperatures and can be fabricated using existing semiconductor technologies. Such material could provide a leap in microchip speeds, and even become the bedrock of an entirely new kind of computing industry based...

A development that could advance of the hottest areas of physics research - "spintronics" - has been announced by US scientists. Ultimately, physicists hope that research in spintronics could lead to smaller, faster and less power hungry computers. These machines would operate using logic devices based on manipulating and measuring the spin of electrons, rather than turning current on and off. Now researchers have for the first time shown that they can inject spin-polarized electrons into silicon, manipulate them, and measure them coming out the other side.

The prospect of a new generation of devices that harness the spin of electrons has moved closer following a recent experiment in the US. Min Ouyang and David Awschalom of the University of California at Santa Barbara have transferred electron spins across molecular 'bridges' between quantum dots for the first time. Even better, the pair found that they could transfer the spins most effectively at room temperature (M Ouyang and D Awschalom 2003 Sciencexpress 1086963). Conventional electronic devices manipulate the flow of electronic charge, but spintronic devices would also exploit the intrinsic angular momentum or spin of electrons. Several proposals...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. said on Thursday it used microscopic carbon molecules to emit light -- a breakthrough some scientists say might one day make faster and smaller computers. In the quest for ever-smaller computing devices, researchers are seeking to replace silicon as the foundation for chips. Researchers at IBM have been studying tiny carbon nanotubes -- molecules resembling rolls of chicken wire that are 50,000 times narrower than a human hair. By engineering the carbon nanotube, IBM said it was able to not only conduct current, but to create light that could someday be used...