Credit: Dan Hixon/University of Utah College of Engineering
University of Utah physics and astronomy Distinguished Professor Valy Vardeny, left, and
University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Ajay Nahata have discovered
that a special kind of perovskite, a combination of an organic and inorganic compound that has the same structure as the original mineral, can be layered on a silicon wafer to create a vital component for the communications system of the future. That system would use the terahertz spectrum, the next generation of communications bandwidth that uses light instead of electricity to shuttle data, allowing cellphone and internet users to transfer information a thousand times faster than today.