{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T20:22:17Z","timestamp":1777494137373,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":7,"publisher":"American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)","issue":"5881","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2008,6,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>There are few phenomena in condensed matter physics that are defined only by the fundamental constants and do not depend on material parameters. Examples are the resistivity quantum, h\/e2 (h is Planck's constant and e the electron charge), that appears in a variety of transport experiments and the magnetic flux quantum, h\/e, playing an important role in the physics of superconductivity. By and large, sophisticated facilities and special measurement conditions are required to observe any of these phenomena. We show that the opacity of suspended graphene is defined solely by the fine structure constant, a = e2\/hc \ufffd 1\/137 (where c is the speed of light), the parameter that describes coupling between light and relativistic electrons and that is traditionally associated with quantum electrodynamics rather than materials science. Despite being only one atom thick, graphene is found to absorb a significant (pa = 2.3%) fraction of incident white light, a consequence of graphene's unique electronic structure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1156965","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,4]],"date-time":"2008-04-04T01:46:27Z","timestamp":1207273587000},"page":"1308-1308","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8208,"title":["Fine Structure Constant Defines Visual Transparency of Graphene"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"320","author":[{"given":"R. R.","family":"Nair","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"P.","family":"Blake","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"A. N.","family":"Grigorenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"K. S.","family":"Novoselov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"T. J.","family":"Booth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"T.","family":"Stauber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"N. M. R.","family":"Peres","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]},{"given":"A. K.","family":"Geim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK."},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Minho, P-4710-057 Braga, Portugal."}]}],"member":"221","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_1_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nmat1849"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1143\/JPSJ.71.1318"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.96.256802"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.100.117401"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_6_2","unstructured":"Materials and methods are available on Science Online."},{"key":"e_1_3_1_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1136836"},{"key":"e_1_3_1_8_2","unstructured":"We are grateful to A. Kuzmenko A. Castro Neto P. Kim and L. Eaves for illuminating discussions. Supported by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK) the Royal Society European Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research."}],"container-title":["Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1126\/science.1156965","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,10]],"date-time":"2024-01-10T08:43:20Z","timestamp":1704876200000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.1156965"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2008,6,6]]},"references-count":7,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5881","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2008,6,6]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1126\/science.1156965"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1156965","relation":{},"ISSN":["0036-8075","1095-9203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0036-8075","type":"print"},{"value":"1095-9203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2008,6,6]]}}}