HONG KONG: Scientists have created the world’s smallest light bulb from a one atom-thick layer of graphene, the miracle material that promises to transform everything from smartphones and computers to cars, buildings and satellites.
The ultrathin graphene was turned into a superheated filament – just like the thin wire of an incandescent light bulb – which glowed at a temperature of about 2500C.
The light was so intense it could be seen with the naked eye even though it was on the atomic scale, which meant the high temperatures were confined to a tiny “hot spot” and did not damage the silicon chip on which it was mounted, scientists said.
The discovery could be used as the basis of a new kind of switching device for future optical computers that use pulses of light rather than electricity to process and transmit digital information far faster than conventional silicon chips, they said.
It is the first time that scientists have been able to create a computer chip which has its own visible light source, said James Hone, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University in New York, co-author of the study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
“We’ve created what is essentially the world’s thinnest light bulb. This new type of ‘broadband’ light emitter can be integrated into chips and will pave the way towards the realisation of atomically thin, flexible and transparent displays, and graphene-based on-chip optical communications,” Professor Hone said.
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