New Optomechanical Crystal Allows Confinement of Light and Sound 91
PBH writes "Physicists and engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a nanoscale crystal that traps both light and sound. The interaction of light quanta (photons) and sound quanta (phomons) are so strong that they produce significant mechanical vibrations. 'Indeed, Painter points out, the interactions between sound and light in this device—dubbed an optomechanical crystal—can result in mechanical vibrations with frequencies as high as tens of gigahertz, or 10 billion cycles per second. Being able to achieve such frequencies, he explains, gives these devices the ability to send large amounts of information, and opens up a wide array of potential applications—everything from lightwave communication systems to biosensors capable of detecting (or weighing) a single macromolecule. It could also, Painter says, be used as a research tool by scientists studying nanomechanics. "These structures would give a mass sensitivity that would rival conventional nanoelectromechanical systems because light in these structures is more sensitive to motion than a conventional electrical system is."'"
Old news (Score:2, Insightful)
They used one of these to trap the bad guys in that old Superman movie.
Re:Phonons (Score:4, Insightful)
"It really annoys me when "prestigious" university professors publish crap like this"
It really annoys nobodies post crap like that. Raman scattering typically occurs when photons scatter off a molecule or crystal thereby exciting a phonon (a vibration) in the internal structure of the molecule/crystal. This is Raman scattering that excites a nano-structure that is engineered into the beam by the researchers. It is similar to regular Raman scattering, but is an engineered process at this point. It's an extremely exciting result!
Re:Phonons (Score:5, Insightful)
There are all sorts of things that have been theoretically known of for quite some time. Still, if you come up with a new, reliable engineering application with major economic consequences, for the Edison or Peltier effects, Superconductivity, Raleigh scattering, or Frame Dragging, that's quite an accomplishment. Hell, if someone finds a genuinely new application for Archimedes model of a waterscrew as an inclined plane wrapped around a cylender, or Thag's heat from rubbing two sticks together theorem, it's still worth respect.
Re:Better Audio Speakers, Mics, Ultrasound, Sonar? (Score:3, Insightful)
I own a pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones that I enjoy, so maybe that tech would be enhanced by these crystals.
LMAO... just mod me troll... just do it before I post ad nauseam how fucking idiodic that is...