Graphene may boost internet speed 100 times

Graphene may boost internet
speed 100 times:

Using 'miracle material' graphene in
telecommunications could
dramatically make the internet a
hundred times faster, a new study
has found. Researchersthe
Universities of Bath and Exeter have
demonstrated for the first time
incredibly short optical response
rates using graphene, which could
pave the way for a revolution in
telecommunications. Every day large
amounts of information is
transmitted and processed through
optoelectronic devices such as optical
fibres, photodetectors and lasers.
Signals are sent by photons at
infrared wavelengths and processed
using optical switches, which convert
signals into a series of light pulses.
Ordinarily optical switches respond at
rate of a few picoseconds - around a
trillionth of a second. Through this
study physicists have observed the
response rate of an optical switch
using 'few layer graphene' to be
around one hundred femtoseconds -
nearly a hundred times quicker than
current materials. Graphene is just
one atom thick, but remarkably
strong. Scientists have suggested that
it would take an elephant, balanced
on a pencil to break through a single
sheet. Already dubbed a miracle
material due to its strength,
lightness, flexibility, conductivity and
low cost, it could now enter the
market to dramatically improve
telecommunications, researchers
said. "We've seen an ultrafast optical
response rate, using 'few-layer
graphene', which has exciting
applications for the development of
high speed optoelectronic
components based on graphene,"
lead researcher Dr Enrico Da Como
said. "This fast response is in the
infrared part of the electromagnetic
spectrum,many applications in
telecommunications, security and
also medicine are currently
developing and affecting our society,"
said Da Como. "The more we find out
about graphene the more remarkable
its properties seem to be. This
research shows that it also has
unique optical properties which could
find important new applications," Co-
Director of the Centre for Graphene
Science at Bath, Professor Simon
Bending added. In the long term this
research could also lead to the
development of quantum cascade
lasers based on graphene. Quantum
cascade lasers are semiconductor
lasers used in pollution monitoring,
security and spectroscopy. Few-layer
graphene could emerge as a unique
platform for this interesting
application. The study was published
in Physical Review Letters.
Using 'miracle material' graphene in
telecommunications could
dramatically make the internet a
hundred times faster, a new study
has found. Researchersthe
Universities of Bath and Exeter have
demonstrated for the first time
incredibly short optical response
rates using graphene, which could
pave the way for a revolution in
telecommunications. Every day large
amounts of information is
transmitted and processed through
optoelectronic devices such as optical
fibres, photodetectors and lasers.
Signals are sent by photons at
infrared wavelengths and processed
using optical switches, which convert
signals into a series of light pulses.
Ordinarily optical switches respond at
rate of a few picoseconds - around a
trillionth of a second. Through this
study physicists have observed the
response rate of an optical switch
using 'few layer graphene' to be
around one hundred femtoseconds -
nearly a hundred times quicker than
current materials. Graphene is just
one atom thick, but remarkably
strong. Scientists have suggested that
it would take an elephant, balanced
on a pencil to break through a single
sheet. Already dubbed a miracle
material due to its strength,
lightness, flexibility, conductivity and
low cost, it could now enter the
market to dramatically improve
telecommunications, researchers
said. "We've seen an ultrafast optical
response rate, using 'few-layer
graphene', which has exciting
applications for the development of
high speed optoelectronic
components based on graphene,"
lead researcher Dr Enrico Da Como
said. "This fast response is in the
infrared part of the electromagnetic
spectrum,many applications in
telecommunications, security and
also medicine are currently
developing and affecting our society,"
said Da Como. "The more we find out
about graphene the more remarkable
its properties seem to be. This
research shows that it also has
unique optical properties which could
find important new applications," Co-
Director of the Centre for Graphene
Science at Bath, Professor Simon
Bending added. In the long term this
research could also lead to the
development of quantum cascade
lasers based on graphene. Quantum
cascade lasers are semiconductor
lasers used in pollution monitoring,
security and spectroscopy. Few-layer
graphene could emerge as a unique
platform for this interesting
application. The study was published
in Physical Review Letters.