Researchers Create Graphite Memory 10 Atoms Thick 135
CWmike writes "Researchers at Rice University have demonstrated a new data storage medium made out of a layer of graphite only 10 atoms thick. The technology could potentially provide many times the capacity of current flash memory and withstand temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius and radiation that would make solid-state disk memory disintegrate. 'Though we grow it from the vapor phase, this material [graphene] is just like graphite in a pencil. You slide these right off the end of your pencil onto paper. If you were to place Scotch tape over it and pull up, you can sometimes pull up as small as one sheet of graphene. It is a little under 1 nanometer thick,' Professor James Tour said."
10 Atoms thick? (Score:2, Interesting)
As per wikipedia,
Diameter range: 62 pm (He) to 520 pm (Cs) (data page)
Atom @ Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
It seems that the "thickness" of an atom varies. I've never understood why it is used as a unit of measure.
Re:10 Atoms thick? (Score:3, Interesting)
"Though we grow it from the vapor phase" (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Graphene balloons (Score:3, Interesting)
I've worked with graphite before in a lab (we used it as a substrate for STM [wikipedia.org].
Using scotch tape to pull up layers of graphite must be a common technique: we used it too. There are many kinds of graphite. Using crystalline graphite (found in nature), you could use the tape to pull up a nice thin layer.
Being around improvised solutions using common materials was one of my favorite things about lab work.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:10 Atoms thick? (Score:3, Interesting)
The math isn't hard, but I have to take a shit so I can't do it right now.