Terahertz Heterodyne Detection with Graphene Could Power Space Telescopes

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have demonstrated a terahertz (THz) detector made from graphene for use in next-generation astronomy detectors. A near zero-electron scenario, called Dirac point, was realized in graphene by assembling electron-accepting molecules on its surface. Graphene uniformly doped to the Dirac point was found to enable sensitive and wide-band coherent detection of signals from 90 to 700 gigahertz (GHz) and, prospectively, across the entire THz range. The researchers’ findings indicate that engineered graphene could be a useful material for THz heterodyne detection. For their experiment, the researchers mixed THz signals using graphene. One signal was a high-intensity wave at a known...