A team of researchers has demonstrated a way to manipulate electrons in graphene using pulses of light that last less than a trillionth of a second. By leveraging a quantum effect known as tunneling, they recorded electrons bypassing a physical barrier almost instantaneously, a feat that they say redefines the potential limits of computer processing power. According to the researchers, which included a team from the University of Arizona and colleagues from the Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, the technique could lead to processing speeds in the petahertz range — more than 1000× faster than modern computer chips. Sending data at those speeds would revolutionize computing as we know it, said Mohammed Hassan, an associate professor of physics and optical sciences. Mohammed Hassan (right), associate professor of physics and optical sciences, and Mohamed Sennary, a graduate student studying optics and physics, holding the commercial transistor they used to develop a petahertz-speed transistor. Courtesy of the University of Arizona. “We have experienced a huge leap forward in the development of technologies like artificial intelligence software, but the speed of hardware development does not move as quickly,” Hassan said. “But, by leaning on the discovery of quantum computers, we can develop hardware that matches the current revolution in information technology software.” The team was originally studying the electrical conductivity of modified samples of graphene, a material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. When a laser shines on graphene, the energy of the laser excites electrons in the material, making them move and form into a current. Sometimes, those electric currents cancel each other out. According to Hassan, this happens because the laser's energy wave moves up and down, generating equal and opposite currents on either side of the graphene. Because of graphene's symmetrical atomic structure, these currents mirror each other and cancel each other out, leaving no detectable current. But what if a single electron could slip through the graphene, and its journey could be captured and tracked in real time? That near-instant “tunnelling” was the unexpected result of the team modifying different graphene samples. “Going into the lab, you always anticipate what will happen — but the real beauty of science are the little things that happen, which lead you to investigate more,” Hassan said. “Once we realized that we had achieved this tunneling effect, we had to find out more.” Using a commercially available graphene phototransistor that was modified to introduce a special silicon layer, the researchers used a laser that switches off and on at a rate of 638 attoseconds to create what Hassan called “the world's fastest petahertz quantum transistor.” A transistor is a device that acts as an electronic switch or amplifier that controls the flow of electricity between two points and is fundamental to the development of modern electronics. “For reference, a single attosecond is one-quintillionth of a second,” Hassan said. “That means that this achievement represents a big leap forward in the development of ultrafast computer technologies by realizing a petahertz-speed transistor.” While some scientific advancements can only occur under strict conditions, including temperature and pressure, this new transistor performed in ambient conditions — opening the door to commercialization and use in everyday electronics. Hassan is working with Tech Launch Arizona, the office that works with investigators to commercialize inventions stemming from University of Arizona research in order to patent and market innovations. While the original invention used a specialized laser, the researchers are furthering development of a transistor compatible with commercially available equipment. The research was published in Nature Communications (www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59675-5).