Smoothing Graphene: Several methods have been reported for the growth of monolayer graphene into areas large enough for integration into silicon electronics. However, the electronic properties of the graphene are often degraded by grain boundaries and wrinkles. Lee et al. (p. 286 , published online 3 April) showed that flat, single crystals of monolayer graphene can be grown by chemical-vapor deposition on silicon wafers covered by a germanium layer that aligns the grains. The graphene can be dry-transferred to other substrates, and the germanium layer can be reused for further growth cycles.

Dirac fermions in quasicrystalline graphene: Quasicrystal lattices, which can have rotational order but lack translational symmetry, can be used to explore electronic properties of materials between crystals and disordered solids. Ahn et al. grew graphene bilayers rotated exactly 30° that have 12-fold rotational order. Electron diffraction and microscopy confirmed the formation of quasicrystals, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy revealed anomalous interlayer electronic coupling that was quasi-periodic. The millimeter-scale layers can potentially be transferred to other substrates. Science , this issue p. 782