Research opens door to highly sensitive graphene based electronic devices
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has joined forces with an international team of scientists to research how light can be used to control the electrical properties of graphene. In a paper published in The Journal of Advanced Materials, NPL claims the advance is an 'important step' towards developing highly sensitive graphene based electronic devices.
The researchers have revealed that when graphene is coated with light sensitive polymers, its unique electrical properties can be precisely controlled and therefore exploited. The polymers also protect graphene from contamination.
Light modified graphene chips have already been used at NPL in ultra precision experiments to measure the quantum of the electrical resistance.
In the future similar polymers could be used to effectively 'translate' information from their surroundings and influence how graphene behaves. According to NPL, this effect could be exploited to develop robust reliable sensors for smoke, poisonous gases, or any targeted molecule.
The research team included scientists from the National Physical Laboratory (UK), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), University of California Berkeley (USA), Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), Linköping University (Sweden) and Lancaster University (UK).
