New research at the University of Maryland could lead to a
generation of light detectors that can see below the surface of bodies, walls,
and other objects. Using the special properties of graphene, a two-dimensional
form of carbon that is only one atom thick, a prototype detector is able to see
an extraordinarily broad band of wavelengths. Included in this range is a band
of light wavelengths that have exciting potential applications but are
notoriously difficult to detect: terahertz waves, which are invisible to the
human eye.