Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Buckyballs on gold are less exotic than graphene

Graphene consists of carbon atoms that crosslink in a plane to form a flat honeycomb structure. In addition to surprisingly high mechanical stability, the material has exciting electronic properties: The electrons behave like massless particles, which can be clearly demonstrated in spectrometric experiments. Measurements reveal a linear dependence of energy on momentum, namely the so-called Dirac cones - two lines that cross without a band gap - i.e. an energy difference between electrons in the conduction band and those in the valence bands.