Most modern information is transmitted through light, but computer chips run electronically. Light-detectors must convert photons to electrons somewhere in between in order for there to be a successful transfer of data.
Now, researchers have figured out a way to "combine a graphene photodetector with a standard silicon chip," a Vienna University of Technology press release reported. The material has the ability to convert any important frequency into a communicable electronic signal.
Graphene "consists of a single layer of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms."
Thomas Müller of the Institute of Photonics, Vienna University of Technology discovered graphene was ideal for converting light to electric currents two years ago.
"There are many materials that can transform light into electrical signals, but graphene allows for a particularly fast conversion," Thomas Müller said.
The material could make it easier to convert huge chunks of data, and it could be done in a much shorter period of time than has been possible in the past.
"A narrow waveguide with a diameter of about 200 by 500 nanometers carries the optical signal to the graphene layer. There, the light is converted into an electrical signal, which can then be processed in the chip," Müller said.
Researchers had already attempted to incorporate photodetectors made from Germanium and other materials into computer chips, but they were limited in the range of wavelength they were able to convert.
A chip made from graphene has the ability to be much faster and more compact.
"Twenty-thousand detectors can fit onto a single chip with a surface area of one square centimeter. Theoretically, the chip could be supplied with data via 20 000 different information channels," the press release reported.
"These technologies are not only important for transmitting data over large distances. Optical data transmission also becomes more and more important within computers themselves," Müller said.
