Gold has long been a popular way of enhancing the photosensitivity of electronic devices such as biosensors, imaging systems, energy harvesters and information processors. So far, the gold used has been polycrystalline, but in the past few years various research groups have finessed techniques for producing monocrystalline gold.
Researchers led by Anatoly Zayats at King’s College London, UK and Giulia Tagliabue at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland are now reporting that electrons in these new monocrystalline gold films behave significantly differently from electrons in polycrystalline gold. “We had surprises that we did not expect,” Zayats tells Physics World. The differences, he adds, could bring significant benefits for applications.
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