TEAM 0.5 Microsope Takes Closest Look Ever at Graphene, the
World's Strongest Known MaterialGraphene is getting a lot of
publicity these days. It is being hailed as the future of the
electronics industry—the material that will eventually replace
silicon. It has also recently been confirmed as the world's
strongest known material. Now, researchers at the Berkeley Lab
have thrust graphene into the spotlight once again thanks to the
TEAM 0.5: the world's most powerful transmission electron
microscope. It has produced the first "stunning" images of
graphene's individual carbon atoms. Now, I'm no scientist, but
apparently this sort of image gives even the most seasoned
electron microscopist a raging science boner. But it is not so
much about the graphene as it is about the potential of the TEAM
0.5. One researcher noted that it "allows for the detection of
every single atom from the Periodic Table provided that the
sample under investigation can stand the radiation damage."
Basically, it can study individual atoms