Graphene Enabled Optoelectronics on Paper

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of optoelectronic devices on paper using graphene, enabling reconfigurable optical modulation, high contrast, and novel device architectures not possible with traditional wafer-based methods.

Contribution

It introduces a new method of fabricating optoelectronic devices on paper with graphene, overcoming surface roughness issues and enabling reconfigurable optical functionalities.

Findings

High optical contrast in visible spectrum achieved

Fast response speed of the devices demonstrated

Novel 3D and patterned device architectures realized

Abstract

The realization of optoelectronic devices on paper has been an outstanding challenge due to the large surface roughness and incompatible nature of paper with optical materials. Here, we demonstrate a new class of optoelectronic devices on a piece of printing paper using graphene as an electrically reconfigurable optical medium. Our approach relies on electro-modulation of optical properties of multilayer graphene on paper via blocking the interband electronic transitions. The paper based devices yield high optical contrast in the visible spectrum with fast response speed. Pattering graphene into multiple pixels, folding paper into 3-dimensional shapes or printing coloured ink on paper substrates enable us to demonstrate novel optoelectronic devices which cannot be realized with wafer-based techniques.