New research published by the University of California, Berkeley, shows that graphene — an incredibly thin and flexible form of carbon — can be used to boost the transmission and switching speed of optical modulators, the building blocks of routers that form the backbone of the internet.
Scientists at UC Berkeley, led by professor Xiang Zhang, have found that one-atom-thick layers of graphene can switch light on and off incredibly quickly. With just the right amount of positive voltage, graphene turns opaque, stopping any light from passing through — and with a negative voltage, graphene can be turned transparent again. The team then successfully shrunk a graphene optical modulator down to 25 square microns in size — small enough to include in silicon circuitry — and modulated it at a speed of 1GHz. The researchers say that modulation speeds of up to 500GHz are theoretically possible, though — and for comparison, the modulators found in 40Gbit switches are measured in centimeters and operate at just 40GHz — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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