Graphene pioneers bag Europhysics prize
Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov of the University of Manchester in the UK have been awarded this year’s Europhysics Prize for “discovering and isolating a single free-standing atomic layer of carbon (graphene) and elucidating its remarkable electronic properties”. The annual award is given by the European Physical Society’s condensed-matter division and the pair will share €10,000 in prize money.
The two researchers discovered graphene in 2004 by using a piece of adhesive tape to peel a single atomic layer off a piece of graphite — a process known as micromechanical cleavage or the “Scotch tape method”….
Geim is also famous for his 1997 “flying frog” experiment in which he and his colleagues in Nijmegen levitated a frog using a powerful magnet. He shared the 2000 “IgNobel” prize for his efforts.
So reports PhysicsWorld on September 2, 2008