June 23, 2014

Measuring the mass of 'massless' electrons




TAMING GRAPHENE, HARVARD-LED RESEARCHERS SUCCESSFULLY MEASURE COLLECTIVE MASS OF ‘MASSLESS’ ELECTRONS IN MOTION

Individual electrons in graphene are massless, but when they move together, it’s a different story.
Graphene, a one-atom-thick carbon sheet, has taken the world of physics by storm—in part, because its electrons behave as massless particles. Yet these electrons seem to have dual personalities. Phenomena observed in the field of graphene plasmonics suggest that when the electrons move collectively, they must exhibit mass.