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“Researchers have solved a problem hindering development of highly sensitive optical devices made of a material called graphene, an advance that could bring applications from imaging and displays to sensors and high-speed communications. Graphene is an extremely thin layer of carbon that is promising for optoelectronics, and researchers are trying to develop graphene-based photodetectors, devices that are critical for many technologies. However, typical photodetectors made of graphene have only a small area that is sensitive to light, limiting their performance. Now, researchers have solved the problem by combining graphene with a comparatively much larger silicon carbide substrate, creating graphene field-effect transistors, or GFETs, which can be activated by light, said Yong Chen, a Purdue University professor of physics and astronomy and electrical and computer engineering, and director of the Purdue Quantum Center. High-performance photodetectors might be useful for applications including high-speed communications and ultra-sensitive cameras for astrophysics, as well as sensing applications and wearable electronics. Arrays of the graphene-based transistors might bring high-resolution imaging and displays.”

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