New property revealed in graphene could lead to better performing solar panels

An international research team, co-led by a UC Riverside physicist, has discovered a new mechanism for ultra-efficient charge and energy flow in graphene, opening up opportunities for developing new types of light-harvesting devices. The researchers fabricated pristine graphene -- graphene with no impurities -- into different geometric shapes. They found that when light illuminated constricted areas, such as the region where a narrow ribbon connected two wide regions, they detected a large light-induced current, or photocurrent.