How big is the light produced by an atom thick bulb?

CnBeta, 130 years ago, Thomas Edison made the world's first commercial light bulb with carbon.

Now, research teams from Columbia University, Seoul National University (SNU), and the Korea Academy of standards sciences have made the world's thinnest light bulb using the same element, the perfect form of carbon (Shi Moxi).

Although its filament is only as thick as an atom, its brightness can still be easily seen by the naked eye.

Professor Young Duck Kim and James Hone.

By adding the graphene micro wire to the metal electrode and then hanging on the silicon substrate, the current passes through the filament and is heated to more than 2500 degrees (4500) to give off very bright light.

The researchers used graphene to make the world's thinnest on-chip light source.

James Hone, Professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University, said:

"We have created the thinnest light bulb in the world. This new" broadband "light source can be integrated into the chip, and pave the way for the realization of thin and atomic flexible transparent displays and optical communication based on graphene.

Interestingly, although the temperature of graphene is so high, it does not melt the substrate or metal electrode. This is because when the graphene is heated, its heat is not able to pass from itself to leave.

The result is that the heat is concentrated and confined to the very middle of the filament, which gives strong light. Spectroscopic measurements show that the peak value has exceeded the expectation of people, which is due to the interference of light emitting filament and silicon substrate.

Unlike any common filament, because this material is transparent, this phenomenon can only happen on graphene. By changing the distance between the substrate and the substrate, the researchers can adjust the spectrum emitted.

Graphene lattice (graphene lattice) can also be highly efficient luminescence, because its intrinsic force can maintain the excitation level and allow the free flow of electrons.

That is to say, as graphene can rapidly emit electrons in the rising state (elevated state), it can also effectively release photons in the case of electric heating.

KRISS senior researcher Myung-Ho Bae said:

At the highest temperature, the electron temperature is much higher than that of the graphene lattice. This unique thermal property allows us to heat the suspended graphene to half the temperature of the sun and raise the efficiency of the solid substrate to 1000 times.

At present, researchers are trying to improve these photothermal devices so that they can fast connect / break (generate 0 and 1 signals) and apply them to optical communications. Of course, they will explore ways of incorporating them into flexible materials.

The results of this study are published in the recent Nature Nanotechnology journal.

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