The Politecnico di Milano is ready to revolutionize future technology: from computers equipped with low-energy-consumption optical logic gates to nanometric optical computers that pass through innovative ultra-sensitive sensors. These are the innovations that will be brought about in the near future by the new research perspectives opened by an international team coordinated by the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with the University of Sheffield (UK). In fact, the researchers observed how the effect of the quantum tunnel of electrons between two adjacent layers of atomic thickness semiconductor materials drastically changes their transparency when illuminated with laser light. The findings were recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. The researchers specifically observed the effects of a bidirectional "transport" of electrons from one two-dimensional material - often a few atoms - to another, a phenomenon known as "quantum tunnelling." During the transfer, electrons are delocalized between the two layers and must compete for the same energy state with electrons already present in the single layer. Furthermore, if the energy state is already occupied, light absorption is prevented. This phenomenon adheres to the quantum physics principle known as the Pauli exclusion principle. Due to the use of laser light, the process can drastically alter the optical properties of the utilized materials, in particular by increasing their transparency. Finally, electron competition causes a significant decrease in the material's ability to absorb light while increasing transparency induced by laser pulses. The discovery of these properties undoubtedly represents the opening of new research avenues in the fields of photonics and materials physics, as well as new avenues in materials sciences for future applications in optical and quantum computing.
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