Scientists from Montana State University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, North Carolina State University, the Honda Research Institute in San Jose, CA, and the National University of Singapore have enabled the emission of single photons of light in ultra small, two-dimensional, ribbon-shaped materials measuring one atom thick and tens of atoms wide – about a thousand times narrower than the width of a human hair. Although the ability to emit single photons was known to occur in large sheets of two-dimensional materials, the observation made in this study is the first demonstration that the ability to emit single photons also occurs in much smaller ribbon structures.
An official website of the United States government.