The use of graphene in telecommunications would boost the internet speeds by up to hundred times, according to new research by Universities of Bath and Exeter in the UK.
Researchers at Universities of Bath and Exeter’s Department of Physics found that the use of graphene offered extremely short optical response rates around hundred femtoseconds, which is nearly a hundred times faster than existing materials.
University of Bath Department of Physics lead researcher Dr Enrico Da Como said that they were able to see an ultrafast optical response rate, using ‘few-layer graphene’, which has exciting applications for the development of high speed optoelectronic components based on graphene.
"This fast response is in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, where many applications in telecommunications, security and also medicine are currently developing and affecting our society," Da Como said.
During the process, signals are sent by photons at infrared wavelengths and processed via optical switches to transform signals into a series of light pulses.
University of Bath Centre for Graphene Science co-director Simon Bending said that the more being discovered about graphene the more remarkable its properties seem to be.
"This research shows that it also has unique optical properties which could find important new applications," Bending said.
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Further research would also lead to the development of graphene-based quantum cascade lasers, the researchers added.
