Graphene research has been turning increasingly towards its potential in optoelectronic applications. This is not a surprise because graphene’s optical properties are as astounding its electrical conductivity capabilities.

But just as graphene has the glaring Achilles Heel in electronics applications of lacking a band gap, it also suffers a couple of fatal flaws in optoelectronics. For example, while nearly every single photon the material absorbs generates an electron-hole pair, it doesn’t really absorb that much light. According to some estimates, it absorbs less than 3 percent of the photons falling on it.