Graphene: Revolution in electronics and sensor technology

Phenomena, Phenomena! A "Miracle Material" Propels Electronics Into the Future

2025-09-08 By Georg-August-University Göttingen | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

Graphene, a form of carbon, is considered extraordinary—one atom thick, yet very conductive and stable. It is used, for example, in flexible displays and batteries. But there's even more!

Carbon is known in several forms. Think of graphite, diamond, and, of course, coal! Newer are the soccer-ball-shaped molecule fullerene and graphene (image)—and graphene is now revealing another unexpected property ...(Image: Octopus STL) — Carbon is known in several forms. Think of graphite, diamond, and, of course, coal! Newer are the soccer-ball-shaped molecule fullerene and graphene (image)—and graphene is now revealing another unexpected property ...
(Image: Octopus STL)

Graphene is not only a component of flexible displays but also of highly sensitive sensors, powerful batteries, and efficient solar cells, according to researchers at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Germany), who have now studied graphene more intensively. Together with German and Swiss colleagues from other research institutions, they observed that so-called Floquet effects occur in graphene—something that had previously been considered unproven.

Precisely Tunable Quantum Materials

Typical materials for this are actually metals and semi-metallic quantum materials. However, if a material exhibits this property, its characteristics can be specifically altered using light pulses, a process known as Floquet engineering, according to the researchers. To achieve this, they employed femtosecond pulse microscopy. In this method, the graphene samples are first excited with rapid light flashes and then analyzed with a delayed light pulse to track dynamic processes within the material. These findings bring research closer to the goal of specifically influencing quantum materials with defined properties—for instance, using very short laser pulses. Tailoring materials in this way for specific applications could form the foundation for the electronics, computer technology, or sensor systems of the future.

(This work was financially supported by the Göttingen Collaborative Research Center SFB 1073 "Control of Energy Conversion on Atomic Scales," funded by the German Research Foundation. The findings were first published in Nature Physics).

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Date: 08.12.2025

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