A study performed by a research group from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) illustrates that graphene-based materials could be utilized to efficiently transform high-frequency signals into visible light.
Terahertz light, radiation in the far-infrared part of the emission spectrum, is currently not fully exploited in technology, although it shows great potential for many applications in sensing, homeland security screening, and future (sixth generation) mobile networks.
With the thickness of a single atomic layer, graphene is the thinnest material ever produced. Thinner than a billionth of a meter, graphene can absorb light efficiently from the visible to the infrared via the photoexcitation of its charge carriers.