Scientists Spin Graphene and Gold into Terahertz Waves

A German-Spanish research team has developed a graphene-based approach for increasing the efficiency with which the scientists were able generate terahertz pulses. In the system, the researchers coated a graphene sheet with a metallic lamellar structure — specifically, gold lamellae. Scientists currently use accelerator devices, which are often complex, and large lasers to generate terahertz waves. The capabilities of the new material system make it compatible to existing semiconductor technology in actively transitioning from gigahertz to terahertz frequencies with increased efficiency over current sources and converters that perform that transition. Though graphene is a known frequency multiplier (when light pulses in...