Monomolecular blade

Monomolecular blades, forged from a super-hardened and dense crystalline structure made of strongly-bonded carbon molecules, the edges often honed to the width of a single molecule.  Due to blades cutting better when their edges are thinner, these Monomolecular blades one molecule thick are capable of slicing into materials at the molecular level.  In other words, it's an impossibly sharp blade that can cut almost anything.
== Limitations ==
Monomolecular blades can cut into almost anything, but not necessarily through.  Given a thick enough object, friction will eventually slow the blade to a standstill.  How deeply a monomolecular blade can cut depends on how much force is put behind the blow.  Therefore, although a stock mortal human could slice single layered rockcrete in half with one swing of a monomolecular blade, only someone supernaturally strong like superhuman forces of the Imperial Marine Legions could do the same to a Ceramic Carbonite armor.
Monomolecular blades have a hard time cutting things made from the same or similar materials - specifically diamond, fullerene mesh, buckytube monowire, and other monomolecular blades. 
Hacking at an armored target with a monomolecular weapon can eventually damage the blade.  High quality monomolecular blades are tempered so as to resharpen themselves via flaking (i.e. a blow to the edge causes the material to flake, exposing a fresh cutting surface underneath).  Poor quality monomolecular blades will become chipped, dulled, and blunted over time, and need to be periodically resharpened by a professional with specialized equipment.
Finally, monomolecular blades can be a danger to the wielder: one wrong twist or flip of the wrist could result in severed fingers or worse, and the cut would be so clean the person may not even notice it at first.  Even if wearing protective gauntlets and armor, users should still be extremely careful when handling such potentially hazardous weapons.
Category:Imperium
Category:Armaments
Category:Component