WEB DESK, July 12(ABC): This means they have remained bigger and slower than other technologies, like the silicon chip, that they integrate with.
The new hyper-efficient broadband photodetector developed by researchers at RMIT University is at least 1,000 times thinner than the smallest commercially available photodetector device.
In a significant leap for the technology, the prototype device can also see all shades of light between ultraviolet and near infrared, opening new opportunities to integrate electrical and optical components on the same chip.
The breakthrough technology opens the door for improved biomedical imaging, advancing early detection of health issues like cancer.
Study lead author, PhD researcher Vaishnavi Krishnamurthi, said in photodetection technologies, making a material thinner usually came at the expense of performance.
“But we managed to engineer a device that packs a powerful punch, despite being thinner than a nanometer, which is roughly a million times smaller than the width of a pinhead,” she said.