New approach to use of 2-D carbon material opens up unexpected properties, could unleash new uses.
On a piece of graphene (the horizontal surface with a hexagonal pattern of carbon atoms), in a strong magnetic field, electrons can move only along the edges, and are blocked from moving in the interior. In addition, only electrons with one direction of spin can move in only one direction along the edges (indicated by the blue arrows), while electrons with the opposite spin are blocked (as shown by the red arrows). Image courtesy of the researchers.