Phonons
Mildred S. Dresselhaus (MIT)
for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures
  • pointed out that nanotubes can be viewed as arising from the folding of a single sheet of carbon, like a piece of paper that is wrapped at different spiral angles.
  • predicted that SWNTs could behave like either metals or semiconductors, depending on their chirality.
  • pioneered Raman spectroscopy as a sensitive tool for the characterization of materials one atomic layer thick, namely carbon nanotubes and graphene.
  • showed that in nanostructures it is possible to decouple thermal and electrical transport, with significant implications for thermoelectrics and energy use.
"Raman spectroscopy in graphene," Physics Reports 473 (2009) 51-87
2009