Large Improvement in Graphene Photosensitivity Realized

alphadogg sends in a writeup in NetworkWorld about promising new research with graphene. From the article: "Two Nobel Prize winning scientists out of the U.K. have come up with a new way to use graphene – the thinnest material in the world – that could make Internet pipes feel a lot fatter. University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov ... write in the journal Nature Communications of a method of combining the carbon-based material with metallic nanostructures to use as photodetectors that could greatly increase the amount of light optical communications devices could handle. This advance in graphene light harvesting and conversion into electrical power could lead to communications rates tens or even hundreds of times faster than today's, the researchers say."

Comments

Re:Sometimes i wonder...

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Thank god for this. The slow bandwidth to Twitter is killing me. When one my friends goes out to lunch, or has a particularly noteworthy bowel movement, I want to know about it in nanoseconds, not milliseconds, goddamit.

"Could" does not mean "will"

[FridayBob]

Fiber optic technology that can deliver 100Mbps and even gigabit speeds over wide area distances has been around for years, so the reason it hasn't reached your doorstep yet isn't because it hasn't been invented yet. What's been standing in the way of progress all this time are the large telecom corporations that exploit all those local loops out there, those last miles of ancient copper that they're always promising to replace with something better, but always find a reason not to. No, as far as they're concerned it's always better to squeeze the last dime possible out of your investment if you can, especially when there's no real competition (something most of us can also thank our local governments for).

Re:"Could" does not mean "will"

[Taty'sEyes]

Well when Verizon came through and put in FTTH in my neighborhood, they pulled the copper. "Why?", you ask. Because the regulations on fiber are not the same as on copper. They then had us locked in. So we bitched a fit and they had to put some of it back (or at least so I hear, as I moved before the whole project was completed). Oh and one other note: I manufacture PLCs (planar lightwave circuits) that handle 100 Gbps (10 channels by 10Gbps) and have for years now - just to back your claim.

Internet pipes fatter?

[rossdee]

Since graphene is so strong you could build a pipe 20 metres across. Not only would it be able to carry data, but also semi trucks. You could order stuff from Amazon with instant shipping, and get physical purchases as fast as digital downloads.

Re:And?

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Comcast is simply being a good steward for the planet in this case. Whilst other companies fritter away bandwidth at an appalling rate, Comcast recognizes and respects that bandwidth is a non-renewable resource. Once you use up bandwidth, it's gone forever. This new research reminds me of nothing so much as an announcement of a new model Hummer that gets even WORSE mileage.

Don't be in such a hurry to use up all the bandwidth, leave some for your grandchildren!

Re:Sometimes i wonder...

[EraserMouseMan]

I've been hearing how awesome graphene is for years and years. Is anybody making anything out of this stuff today?

Re:feel?

[Alphathon]

Um, I know this is slashdot, but did you even bother to read the whole summary*? It specifically said "... a method of combining the carbon-based material with metallic nanostructures to use as photodetectors that could greatly increase the amount of light optical communications devices could handle" (emphasis mine). Sure that particular sentence didn't mention it, but taking it on its own seems a bit "quote-miney" to me. Then there's the title of course, which seems pretty clear to me.

*It's summary, not summery; that means "like summer".