New Material That Improves the Efficiency of Light-Based Devices
upstart writes:
Cameras, solar panels, biosensors, and fiber optics are technologies that rely on photodetectors, or sensors that convert light into electricity. With the shrinking size of their component semiconductor chips, photodetectors are becoming more efficient and affordable. However, current materials and manufacturing methods are constraining miniaturization, forcing trade-offs between size and performance.
[...] Manufacturing uniform, extremely thin, high quality photonic semiconductor films of material other than silicon would make semiconductor chips more efficient, applicable, and scalable.
One-atom-thick materials generally take the form of a lattice, or a layer of geometrically aligned atoms that form a pattern specific to each material. A superlattice is made up of lattices of different materials stacked upon one another. Superlattices have completely new optical, chemical and physical properties which make them adaptable for specific applications such as photo optics and other sensors.
The team at Penn Engineering made a superlattice, five atoms thick, of tungsten and sulfur (WS2).
[...] Their superlattice design is not only extremely thin, making it lightweight and cost effective, it can also emit light, not just detect it.
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