Science Daily May 3, 2021
Silicon-based fiber optics are currently the best structures for high-speed, long distance transmissions, but graphene could improve performance even more. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin created a scalable fabrication technique to make the smallest graphene ribbon structures. They found that to improve graphene’s performance is to cut it into microscopic, nanometer-scale ribbon structures, which act as tiny antennas that interact with light. The smaller the antenna, the higher energies of light it interacts with. As the ribbon width decreases, so does the resonant wavelength of light. Lower wavelengths mean higher energies, and their devices interacted with the highest energies measured yet for structured graphene. They were able to tune the ribbons by increasing the electric field strength applied to the structures, further reducing the structures’ resonant wavelength. They are now trying to tweak their fabrication methods to make the ribbons even narrower. The new graphene nanostructures will also allow explorations into the fundamental physics of light-matter interactions, research…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Abstract. Credit: ACS Photonics 2021, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX, April 16, 2021Â