October 11, 2010 - Keithley Instruments extends its congratulations to Drs. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, scientists at the University of Manchester in England who were just awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on graphene, a single-atom-thick form of carbon with outstanding physical, electrical, and chemical properties. In their research, Geim and Novoselov employed several Keithley Instruments products, including the Model 2400 SourceMeter instrument and the Model 2182A Nanovoltmeter. Mark Hoersten, Keithley's vice president, marketing, noted, "It has given everyone here enormous satisfaction to know that our products have been a part of a ground-breaking research effort like this one.
Coincidentally, three Keithley employees were actually in Geim and Novoselov's labs on a routine customer visit when the call came in from the Nobel Prize Committee, informing Geim and Novoselov of their win."
Award-Winning Research
Geim and Novoselov first isolated graphene, a one-atom-thick form of carbon with a hexagonal (six-sided), honeycomb-like structure, in 2004. Potential applications of this material, sometimes described as "the perfect atomic lattice," include the development of new super-strong and lightweight materials for making satellites, aircraft, and automobiles. Electronics applications may include the development of ultra-fast and ultra-high-bandwidth transistors, innovative displays, biodevices, single-molecule gas detectors, and ultracapacitors.
Robert Green, one of the Keithley employees on hand in the winners' labs when the call came from the Nobel committee, explains, "They've been using two of our Model 2400 SourceMeter instruments and one of our Model 2182A Nanovoltmeters to characterize both the resistivity and the very high carrier mobility of the thinnest crystalline material ever isolated. Ultra-sensitive, precision sourcing and measurement equipment such as the Model 2400 SourceMeter instrument, which can output very low levels of current, and the Model 2182A, which can measure the smallest voltages, are essential to making repeatable and reliable measurements."
About Keithley Instruments, Inc. With more than 60 years of measurement expertise, Keithley Instruments has become a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems. Our customers are scientists and engineers in the worldwide electronics industry involved with advanced materials research, semiconductor device development and fabrication, and the production of end products such as portable wireless devices. The value we provide them is a combination of products for their critical measurement needs and a rich understanding of their applications to improve the quality of their products and reduce their cost of test.
