Photo Credit: Photonics.comGraphene-based photodetectors can efficiently convert infrared light into electrical signals, three independent studies report this week. The work “makes it very likely that graphene will soon replace germanium and compound semiconductors in high-performance light detectors,” said editors at Nature Photonics, which published all three papers. 

Graphene — a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice — with its exceptional electrical and optical properties, is being pursued as a more attractive alternative to germanium or compound semiconductors for silicon-based photonics. Attempts to integrate photodetectors made of materials such as germanium onto a chip have resulted in bandgap-limited detectors that can process light of only a specific wavelength range. But graphene — a zero-bandgap material — has been shown to convert all wavelengths used in telecommunications equally well, and recent graphene integration work has yielded high-performance optoelectronic devices such as modulators, polarizers and photodetectors. Read More