Nobel physics prize for ultrathin carbon discovery
AP – This undated image made available by the University of Manchester, England Tuesday STOCKHOLM – Two Russian-born scientists shared the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for "groundbreaking experiments" with the thinnest, strongest material known to mankind — a carbon vital for the creation of faster computers and transparent touch screens.
University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov used Scotch tape to isolate graphene, a form of carbon only one atom thick but more than 100 times stronger than steel, and showed it has exceptional properties, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Experiments with graphene could lead to the development of new superstrong materials with which to make satellites, airplanes and cars, as well as innovative electronics, the academy said in announcing the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award.
Geim compared the material to plastic in its ability to revolutionize the world.
"It has all the potential to change your life in the same way that plastics did," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "It is really exciting."
The Nobel academy said computers will become more efficient as "graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today's silicon transistors."
"Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels and maybe even solar cells," the academy said in its citation.
Geim, 51, is a Dutch national while Novoselov, 36, holds both British and Russian citizenship. Both are natives of Russia and started their careers in physics there. They first worked together in the Netherlands before moving to Britain, and they reported isolating graphene in 2004.
Novoselov is the youngest winner since 1973 of a prize that normally goes to scientists with decades of experience. The youngest Nobel laureate to date is Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 when he shared the physics award with his father William Bragg in 1915.
"It's a shock," Novoselov told the AP. "I started my day chatting over Skype over new developments — it was quite unexpected."
Geim said he didn't expect to win the prize this year either and had forgotten that it was Nobel time when the prize committee called him from Stockholm.
The two scientists used simple Scotch tape as a crucial tool in their experiments, peeling off thin flakes of graphene from a piece of graphite, the stuff of pencil leads.
"It's a humble technique. But the hard work came later," Geim told the AP.
Paolo Radaelli, a physics professor at the University of Oxford, marveled at the simple methods used by Geim and Novoselov.
"In this age of complexity, with machines like the super collider, they managed to get the Nobel using Scotch tape," Radaelli said.
Geim last year won the prestigious Korber European Science Award for the discovery, the University of Manchester said.
"This was a well-deserved award," said Phillip F. Schewe, spokesman for the American Institute of Physics in College Park, Maryland.
"Graphene is the thinnest material in the world, it's one of the strongest, maybe the strongest material in the world. It's an excellent conductor. Electrons move through it very quickly, which is something you want to make circuits out of," Schewe said.
He said graphene may be a good material for making integrated circuits, small chips with millions of transistors that are the backbone of all modern telecommunications. Its properties could also lead to potential uses in construction material, Schewe said, but added it would take a while "before this sort of technology moves into mainstream application."
The 2010 Nobel Prize announcements started Monday with the medicine award going to British researcher Robert Edwards, 85, for work that led to the first test tube baby. That achievement helped bring 4 million infants into the world so far and has raised challenging new questions about human reproduction.
The chemistry prize will be announced Wednesday, followed by literature on Thursday, the peace prize on Friday and economics on Monday Oct. 11.
The prestigious awards were created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and first given out in 1901. The prizes are always handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
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Associated Press Writers Malin Rising in Stockholm, Danica Kirka in London and AP Science Writer Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.
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