Researchers Find Material Ultra-Sensitive to Light for Use in Optical Computers
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
ITMO [a Russian university] researchers have discovered a material that is ultra-sensitive to light. Moreover, they were able to identify a parameter that will help find other structures with high refractive coefficients. This discovery will bring us a step closer to developing compact and efficient elements for optical computers-lasers, chips, and sensors. The research is published in Nanophotonics.
[...] The theoretical model demonstrated that the higher the ratio is between these two parameters, the higher the refractive coefficient should be. First, the researchers tested their hypothesis on known materials such as silicon and then turned to the ones less studied. As a result, they discovered rhenium diselenide (ReSe2), a highly promising material for optic elements. It turned out that ReSe2 has a refractive coefficient of 6.5 to 7 in the visible range, which is significantly higher than that of silicon.
Now, the researchers are planning to launch a global search through open databases of materials' electronic properties to find other high-refractive-coefficient substances, previously disregarded by optics specialists.
Journal Reference: Anton A. Shubnic et al. High refractive index and extreme biaxial optical anisotropy of rhenium diselenide for applications in all-dielectric nanophotonics, Nanophotonics (2020). DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2020-0416
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