New quantum trick for graphene: magnetism

Physicists were stunned when two twisted sheets of graphene showed signs of superconductivity. Now Stanford scientists have shown that the wonder material also generates a type of magnetism once only dreamed of theoretically. Sometimes the best discoveries happen when scientists least expect it. While trying to replicate another team's finding, Stanford physicists recently stumbled upon a novel form of magnetism, predicted but never seen before, that is generated when two honeycomb-shaped lattices of carbon are carefully stacked and rotated to a special angle. Aaron Sharpe holds a finished twisted bilayer graphene device fabricated in the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities cleanroom. (Image credit: Ker Than) The authors suggest the magnetism, called orbital ferromagnetism, could prove useful for certain applications, such as quantum computing. The group describes their finding in the July 25 issue of the journal Science .