Scientists at the university have developed methods that allow them to stretch, examine and manipulate layers of pure graphene. In doing so, they discovered that electrons can move in pure graphene practically undisturbed. To lead the electrons from one specific place to another, they planned to actively guide the electrons along a predefined path in the material.
The mechanism applied is based on a property that occurs only in graphene. By combining electrical and magnetic fields, the electrons move along what the team calls a 'snake state'. The line bends to the right, then to the left, with the switch in direction due to the sequence of positive and negative mass. This phenomenon can only be realised in graphene and could be used as a novel switch.
"A nano switch of this type in graphene can be incorporated into a wide variety of devices and operated simply by altering the magnetic field or the electrical field," comments SNI Professor Christian Schönenberger.
Teams of physicists from Regensburg, Budapest and Grenoble were also involved in the study.
