New ultra-thin glass is just two atoms thick, earns Guinness World Record

[Ethnod]

2 Atoms think? Wow, Now I just wonder how tough it is and could it be used as ultra thin glass in some places. Although I do like the possibility of using it to speed transistors up... wonder if it could be put into copper cables and so on to speed things up also... 

You have to love the "it turns out that physicist William Houlder Zachariasen came "startlingly" close to mapping out the correct arrangement way back in 1932", something to be said for physicists just using their brain, imagination and power of deduction

 

 

Source:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/12/4721606/worlds-thinnest-glass-is-just-two-atoms-thick

[SirReallySam]

Oh that's cool, I especially love it when scientists make discoveries by accident makes it feel like fate you know

[Guest GRRigger]

I never called it glass lol. Just two atom thick graphene You can get also 1 atom thick. Just transparent

Anyway, i am waiting to companies start producing heatsinks with graphene. Cuple atom thick fins on a copper base( because graphene conducts left-right more than up-down if flat ) would be great for watercooling heatsinks, and air coolers, because extraordinary thermal conductivity and light weight and small thickness. So you could have about 5 times more surface area, more conductive than copper, lighter... alltho you could even improve heatsink by carbon nanotubes as base for heatsink. It was proven to work in OCZ Hydrojet with great efficiency.

 

As for glass, you could make cuple sheets of perfect graphene glass, and it would be bulletproof :9

[JakeGFX]

let's break it.

[cDNA]

two atoms thick ? man that must be freaking sharp if you touch it by its sides, i expect pretty nasty cuts if you use that

[Fetzie]

two atoms thick ? man that must be freaking sharp if you touch it by its sides, i expect pretty nasty cuts if you use that

 

Not really, you'd probably crush it by touching it. If you could even see it.

[cDNA]

Not really, you'd probably crush it by touching it. If you could even see it.

if you touch it by the flat faces yes but if can probably enter your skin like a knife in butter and break at the first slightly unequal lateral pressure. which could be quite bad....

[Fetzie]

I think you are grossly over-estimating the impact of a two atom thick piece of silicon dioxide. It would disappear the moment it came in contact with moving air.

[Ethnod]

I think you are grossly over-estimating the impact of a two atom thick piece of silicon dioxide. It would disappear the moment it came in contact with moving air.

 

I think you assume I am thinking that they will be releasing it in its 2 atom form. Nothing that I am aware of that is 2 atoms think would withstand the pressures inside a house never mind outside. However, I'm able to think beyond that imagine thinner glass due to this experiment. Hence my liking it