ReSe2 and ReS2 also have special attributes.
Both of them cancreate a novel form of light manipulation, which holds immense technological potential.
Like many scientific breakthroughs, these properties were discovered serendipitously.
In a laboratory in Dubai, the research team tested the hypothesis.
They learned that the materials were more powerful than they had expected.
From lab to factory
Novoselovdescribed the labs findings asgroundbreaking.
Our team made an exciting discovery, he told TNW via email.
A study paper on the research was just published todayin Nature Communications.
But Xpanceo is already planning the commercial applications.
ReSe2 and ReS2 offer a newway for devices and applications to manipulate light.
ForXpanceo, this paves a path towards merging every gadget into one unlimited field of view.
By embedding the two materials into smart contact lenses, the startup plans to augment human colour perception.
The optical upgrade could also enhance various applications, from XR vision to health monitoring.
But thats merely the start of the research teams ambitions.
Such sensors harness a technique called Raman Spectroscopy, which uses lasers to analyse chemical structures.
Its a promising approach for early disease diagnosis.
But its also expensive and technically complex.
By enabling a new formof light-matter interaction,ReS2 and ReSe2 could cut the costs and enhance the performance.
Another potential app isAIcomputing.
The researchers envision the materials into photonic circuits, which could create fast and powerful computers formachine learning.
Much work is still needed to bring the vision into reality.
But for contact lens wearers, the future is already looking brighter.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
