Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) invented a graphene-based an ultra-slim broadband polarizer. They say that such a polarizer can broaden the bandwidth of fiber optic networks. A graphene polarizer covers the telecommunication bands from visible to mid-infrared which means that it can be a complete solution for multiple-channel communications.
The team says that unlike regular polarizers (made from thin metal film or semiconductor dielectric) a graphene polarizer has the unique ability to filter out transverse-magnetic-mode and supports transverse-electric-mode surface wave propagation.
Back in November 2010, an international team of physicists discovered that the polarization of light can be rotated by almost 6° as it passes through a single sheet of graphene in a magnetic field. In May 2011 researchers from the University of California, Berkeley built an optical modulator (switches light on and off) using Graphene.
