Stacking 2-D materials produces surprising results

New experiments reveal previously unseen effects, could lead to new kinds of electronics and optical devices. Graphene has dazzled scientists, ever since its discovery more than a decade ago, with its unequalled electronic properties, its strength and its light weight. But one long-sought goal has proved elusive: how to engineer into graphene a property called a band gap, which would be necessary to use the material to make transistors and other electronic devices. Now, new findings by researchers at MIT are a major step toward making graphene with this coveted property. The work could also lead to revisions in some theoretical predictions in graphene physics. From left: Prof. Ray Ashoori, postdocs Andrea Young and Ben Hunt, graduate student Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi, and Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero. Photo: Jarillo-Herrero and Ashoori groups - The new technique involves placing a sheet of graphene - a carbon-based material whose structure is just one atom thick - on top of hexagonal boron nitride, another one-atom-thick material with similar properties.