Story perspectives

New Technique Transforms Van der Waals Materials into High-Performance Photonic Devices

4/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers developed a method to fabricate van der Waals (vdW) materials into photonic devices with an aluminum layer that protects them.
The technique enables precise nanoscale shaping and creates microdisk structures that trap light with quality factors above 1,000,000.
Nature Materials published the findings, showing vdW materials can be engineered into high-performance photonic devices.
The work suggests computing and sensing applications, moving vdW materials from passive to active photonic components.

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Story summary

Researchers developed a method to fabricate van der Waals (vdW) materials into photonic devices with an aluminum layer that protects them.
The technique enables precise nanoscale shaping and creates microdisk structures that trap light with quality factors above 1,000,000.
Nature Materials published the findings, showing vdW materials can be engineered into high-performance photonic devices.
The work suggests computing and sensing applications, moving vdW materials from passive to active photonic components.