A newly developed, ultra-thin light detector may lead to a whole other generation of technology that can see below the surface of bodies, walls, and other objects.
Based off of the properties of graphene, researchers from the University of Maryland created a prototype that can see an extraordinarily broad band of wavelength, including those that are notoriously difficult to detect like terahertz waves.
A detector like this "could find applications in emerging terahertz fields such as mobile communications, medical imaging, chemical sensing, night vision and security," lead author Xinghan Cai said in a statement.
There are few technologies in existence that can detect terahertz waves, which are invisible to the naked eye, and those that can need to be kept extremely cold, -452 degrees Fahrenheit (-269 Celsius), in order to maintain their sensitivity.
The new light detector circumvents this problem by using graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon that is only one atom thick.
Combining the special properties of graphene and a new operating principle called the "hot-electron photothermoelectric effect," the research team created a device that is "as sensitive as any existing room temperature detector in the terahertz range and more than a million times faster," said Michael Fuhrer, a professor of physics at the University of Maryland.
The prototype works using two electrical leads made of different metals, which conduct electrons at different rates. The subsequent conductivity difference produced allows more electrons to escape through one lead compared to the other, producing an electrical signal. This electrical signal then detects the presence of terahertz waves beneath the surface of materials that appear opaque to the human eye, or even X-rays.
For example, you cannot see through human skin with the naked eye, and X-rays only see through the skin down to the bone, missing all the skin layers in between. Terahertz waves can see this in-between area.
The new research, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, opens the door for future discoveries located in this in-between zone.
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