海角直播 researchers have developed a new and better way of detecting interactions between light and matter at the atomic level, a discovery that could lead to advances in the emerging field of two-dimensional materials and new ways of controlling light.
Scientists typically use spectrometry tools to study the way light interacts with a gas, liquid or solid. That method is described as 鈥渋nelastic,鈥� meaning the light鈥檚 energy is altered by its contact with matter.
A team led by Professor Aristide Dogariu of UCF鈥檚 CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics, has pioneered a way to detecting such interaction on a single layer of atoms 鈥� an exceedingly hard task because of the atom鈥檚 minute size 鈥� using a method that鈥檚 鈥渆lastic.鈥� That means the light鈥檚 energy remains unchanged.
鈥淥ur experiment establishes that, even at atomic levels, a statistical optics-based measurement has practical capabilities unrivaled by conventional approaches,鈥� Dogariu said.
As reported this month in Optica, the academic journal of The Optical Society, it鈥檚 the first demonstration of an elastic scattering, near-field experiment performed on a single layer of atoms.
The researchers demonstrate this novel and fundamental phenomenon using graphene, a two-dimensional, crystalline material. Their technique involved random illumination of the atomic monolayer from all possible directions and then analyzing how the statistical properties of the input light are influenced by miniscule defects in the atomic layer.
The method provided scientists not only with a simple and robust way to assess structural properties of 2D materials but also with new means for controlling the complex properties of optical radiation at subwavelength scales.
The team鈥檚 finding that its method is superior to conventional ones is of broad interest to the physics community. Beyond that, it could lead to other advances.
Graphene and other two-dimensional materials have properties that researchers are trying to leverage for use in display screens, batteries, capacitors, solar cells and more. But their effectiveness can be limited by impurities and finding those defects requires sophisticated microscopy techniques that are sometimes impractical. Dogariu鈥檚 research has yielded a more effective way of discovering those defects — a potentially valuable technique for industry.
The finding that a single layer of atoms modifies properties of light and other electromagnetic radiation has implications for controlling light at subwavelength scales in photonic devices such as LEDs and photovoltaic cells.
The research team also included Roxana Rezvani Naraghi of UCF鈥檚 College of Optics & Photonics and Department of Physics; Luiz Gustavo Cancado, of UCF鈥檚 College of Optics & Photonics and the Federal 海角直播 of Minas Gerais in Brazil; and Felix Salazar-Bloise of Polytechnic 海角直播 of Madrid in Spain.