New 2-D Materials That Can Add Speed, Compactness, and Efficiency To Devices

A recent study made at the University of Minnesota be an international researchers team showcased how modification of 2D materials is capable of making present day devices better, smaller, and faster. Two-dimensional materials form a different class of nanomaterials that have thickness of just a few atoms. Electrons residing in these materials are free to go from here to three in two-dimensional place, however, their third direction movement gets restricted via quantum mechanics. A deeper research is yet to take place over these materials, but specific materials like graphene, black phosphorous, and transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted lot of attention from engineers and scientists for their unmatched properties and capability to improve photonic and electronic devices.

The study that we are talking about here included researchers from U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Universities of Brazil, Spain, UK, MIT, Stanford, and Minnesota. All these people teamed up to test the optical characteristics of several 2D materials. Their main aim was to unify the understanding of light-matter interactions in such substances among the team members and discovers new potential for further research. They discussed how polarities, a distinct class of quasiparticles is formulated via coupling of photons with electric charge dipoles in solid state, this permitted the researchers to integrate photon light speed with miniscule electron size. Tony Low, an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Minnesota and also the lead author of this paper, says, “With our devices, we want speed, efficiency, and we want small. Polaritons could offer the answer.”

Frank Koppens, the group leader from the Institute of Photonic Sciences from Barcelona Spain also explains, “Layered two-dimensional materials have emerged as a fantastic toolbox for nano-photonics and nano-optoelectronics, providing tailored design and tunability for properties that are not possible to realize with conventional materials. This will offer tremendous opportunities for applications.”