Guest_Jim_* Posted April 22, 2015 Posted April 22, 2015 One day we may be able to say graphene has no secrets left, but that time has not come yet. One of the material's potential uses is for converting light to electrical signals, which could find it applications in cameras, sensors, solar cells, and data communication. Now researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) have determined just how fast this conversion process is; under 50 femtoseconds. Graphene is an atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms that has some special electrical properties, including very fast and efficient interactions between electrons. These interactions naturally come into play with this high conversion speed. When a pulse of light strikes graphene, the researchers found, it causes the electrons to disperse and their temperatures to rise very quickly. This electron heat is converted into a voltage when it comes to the interface between graphene regions with different doping. Thus the effect is actually photo-thermoelectric and occurs almost instantly. This research could obviously lead to ultra-fast optoelectronic conversion systems, which could be put to use for data transmission, amongst other applications. Source: The Institute of Photonic Sciences Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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