Creativity Leads to Measuring Ultrafast, Thin Photodetector
December 23, 2015 | Cornell UniversityEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
In the Rana team’s work, only a small percentage of the light-generated charges – 1 to 2 percent – were able to escape the photodetector and make it into the external circuit; most recombined inside the device, producing heat. Market-available photodetector materials such as silicon and gallium arsenide, while generally much slower, have efficiencies of anywhere from 50 to 90 percent.
“That’s the tradeoff of these devices,” Rana said. “Every photodetector ever made has always had to face the efficiency-speed tradeoff.”
Further research by the group will include a discovery made by both Rana’s team and a research group at the University of California, Berkeley: coating the sample with a chemical that will “basically kill the recombination completely,” Rana said.
“So you have to play around with these material surfaces and make sure you’re attaching the right molecules and atoms to it on the outside,” Rana said.
The Berkeley group reported in November an efficiency of 95 percent using their chemically coated MoS2 photodetector.
Rana said the photodetection technology will play a major role in emerging fields, such as LiFi – using light as a source of wireless communication. He said windows and walls could be coated with atomically thin layers of material that would interact with light and carry Internet signals.
Other co-authors include former graduate students Changjian Zhang and Weimin Chan, and Sandip Tiwari, the Charles N. Mellowes Professor of Engineering.
Their research was supported by the Cornell Center for Materials Research, under a National Science Foundation grant, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research, as well as an NSF grant to the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility.
Page 2 of 2Suggested Items
TRI to Unveil New High-Throughput AOI and AXI at productronica 2023
09/15/2023 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading test and inspection systems provider for the electronics manufacturing industry, will join productronica 2023, which will be held at Messe München Center from November 14 – 17, 2023.
UK Space Agency Launches Consultation on Variable Liability Limits for Orbital Operations
09/15/2023 | UK Space AgencyThe proposals from the UK Space Agency follow a review into the UK’s approach to setting the amount of an operator’s liability in licences for orbital operations, a key commitment of the government’s National Space Strategy.
MediaTek Successfully Develops First Chip Using TSMC's 3nm Process, Set for Volume Production in 2024
09/14/2023 | MediaTekMediaTek and TSMC announced that MediaTek has successfully developed its first chip using TSMC's leading-edge 3nm technology, taping out MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity system-on-chip (SoC) with volume production expected next year.
MKS’ Atotech to Participate in IPCA Expo 2023
09/14/2023 | MKS’ AtotechMKS’ Atotech, a leading surface finishing brand of MKS Instruments, will participate in the upcoming IPCA Expo at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) and showcase its latest PCB manufacturing solutions from September 13 – 15.
Comtech Unveils New BRIDGE Solutions to Increase Access to Global Hybrid Connectivity
09/12/2023 | Business WireComtech launched its new blended, resilient, integrated, digital, global, end-to-end (BRIDGE) connectivity solutions. Comtech’s BRIDGE solutions provide portable, adaptable, full-service communications networks that can be established in a matter of hours and help “bridge the gap” for traditional satellite and terrestrial infrastructures.