Graphene

Graphene is a layer of carbon atoms one atom thick, connected by sp2 bonds in two-dimensional hexagonal crystal lattice. It can be thought of as a single plane of graphite was separated from the bulk crystal. It is estimated that the column has a high mechanical hardness and good thermal conductivity (~ 1 TPa, and ~ 5 x 103 W m-1 K-1, respectively). The high mobility of current carriers at room temperature makes it a promising material for use in a wide variety of applications, in particular, as a basis for future nanoelectronics and a possible replacement for silicon integrated circuits.

Principal of the current ways of obtaining a graph is based on mechanical removal of layers of graphite or otshelushivanii. It provides the most high-quality samples with high mobility of carriers. This method does not involve large-scale production, since this procedure manual. Another well-known method - the method of thermal decomposition of silicon carbide substrates is much closer to industrial production. As the first column was obtained only in 2004, it has not been well studied and is attracting increased interest.

Column is not just a piece of other allotropic modifications of carbon: graphite, diamond - due to the peculiarities of the energy spectrum of carriers, it has a specific, unlike the other two systems, electrophysical properties.