Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a new method to measure how photocurrents flow in a 2D material. That could have implications for developing quantum sensors and next-generation electronics.
By using quantum sensors to visualize the magnetic field in extremely thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which is just three atoms thick, they discovered just how photocurrents flowed in this material: in this case, surprisingly, in a vortex around the laser.
This ultra-sensitive method of measuring such currents in a two-dimensional material, which is a substance with a thickness of a new nanometers or less, will help researchers better understand the material in the hopes of eventually using it to create flexible electronics and solar cells.
The results were published in Physical Review X. (HPC Wire)