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+ - Researchers Create Two-Dimensional Glass-> 8

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes "Researchers have created the world's thinnest pane of glass. The glass, made of silicon and oxygen, formed accidentally when the scientists were making graphene, an atom-thick sheet of carbon, on copper-covered quartz. They believe an air leak caused the copper to react with the quartz, which is also made of silicon and oxygen, producing a glass layer with the graphene. The glass is a mere three atoms thick—the minimum thickness of silica glass—which makes it two-dimensional. The team notes that the structure "strikingly resembles" a diagram drawn by a glass theorist attempting to unravel its structure back in 1932. Such ultra-thin glass could be used in semiconductor or graphene transistors."
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Researchers Create Two-Dimensional Glass More

Researchers Create Two-Dimensional Glass

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  • uhh what? (Score:3)

    by JustNiz (692889) on Thursday February 02, 2012 @02:22PM (#38904947)

    >> The glass is a mere three atoms thickâ"the minimum thickness of silica glassâ"which makes it two-dimensional.

    Since when does a dimension totally disappear just because its size is below a few atoms? By the same argument a single atom would be 0 dimensional. I think not.

    • By strict definitions, sure. But if you were representing the position in space of a single atom, you could do so with just a single point and a radius. This glass is as thin as it gets - it can be represented by a plane and an inherent thickness, much like the 'constant' radius of the atom. Try to think in fuzzier terms.

      • By strict definitions, sure. But if you were representing the position in space of a single atom, you could do so with just a single point and a radius. This glass is as thin as it gets - it can be represented by a plane and an inherent thickness, much like the 'constant' radius of the atom. Try to think in fuzzier terms.

        When people, and that shitty fucking XKCD comic (I know, I know, they're ALL shitty), say that Idiocracy isn't coming true, I like to remind them that:

        - Idiocracy was a comedy movie, not a thesis and no one ever seriously argued that it was coming true.
        - People only seriously pointed out that the core plot device of Idiocracy (society becoming dumber, the smart being outbred by the stupid, etc.) is coming true after people tried to argue against anyone who would suggest it jokingly.

        But now I

        • You have no ability to accept that someone else might perceive the world a little differently. I'm not an idiot, I do realize that this IS REAL LIFE and it's all three dimensional (space-wise) to the best of my knowledge. But to hell with it, good luck on your quest to:

          1. Make glass thinner than this.
          2. Convince people that I'm detracting from the gene pool.

          • You have no ability to accept that someone else might perceive the world a little differently. I'm not an idiot, I do realize that this IS REAL LIFE and it's all three dimensional (space-wise) to the best of my knowledge. But to hell with it, good luck on your quest to:

            1. Make glass thinner than this.

            2. Convince people that I'm detracting from the gene pool.

            1 - I don't care about thin glass.
            2 - You're convincing people of that yourself.
            3 - Fuck off, loser.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by JustNiz (692889)

        >> Try to think in fuzzier terms.

        I can't. I'm a software engineer.

  • That's what people want to see. Otherwise, it does seem to be an acceptable summary (except for the definition of 2-D).
  • Not having access to the full article I can't tell, but there is a big difference between coating a copper layer (on silica) with another layer of very thin silica and a pane of glass, which I would think is a stand alone structure. Anyone know? Still quite neat.

My pants just went to high school in the Carlsbad Caverns!!!

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