Is there a limit to what "miracle material" graphene cannot do? Its newly found property, magnetism that can be switched on and off, could pave the way to new transistor-like devices that are much smaller, consume less energy and have greater processing speeds than today's electronics.

 

Graphene is a two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb fashion, and it has already been dubbed the strongest, thinnest and most conductive material ever found.

Now, its newly discovered magnetic property could lead to the fabrication of devices based on the principle of spintronics, said Andre Geim of Manchester University in the United Kingdom, a co-author of the recent study.