Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Home | Dictionary | Timeline | New

Light-Trapping Nanodoughnut Like Slow Glass

Warwickshire physicists have stored exitons in a nanoscale Aharonov-Bohm ring using a combination of magnetic and electric fields. The exiton holds onto its photon, effectively freezing it in place.

Andrea Fischer and Rudolf A. Roemer believe that this accomplishment has significant implications for light-based computing. This is the first time that a photon has been "locked down" for later release.

SF fans remember Bob Shaw's classic 1968 story Light of Other Days, in which he describes a manufactured product with the capacity to trap light and then slowly let it out - slow glass.

A new piece was always jet black because nothing had yet come through, but one could stand the glass beside, say, a woodland lake until the scene emerged, perhaps a year later. If the glass was then removed and installed in a dismal city flat, the flat would—for that year—appear to overlook the woodland lake.,,
(Read more about slow glass)

Read more about this complex development in this artlessly casual article in The Register - Boffins build 'slow glass' light-trapping nanodoughnut or go straight to Exciton Storage in a Nanoscale Aharonov-Bohm Ring with Electric Field Tuning (pdf) in which the authors Andrea M. Fischer, Vivaldo L. Campo Jr., Mikhail E. Portno and Rudolf A. Romer "study analytically the optical properties of a simple model for an electron-hole pair on a ring subjected to perpendicular magnetic flux and in-plane electric field, show how to tune this excitonic system from optically active to optically dark as a function of these external fields and offer a simple mechanism for exciton storage and readout." Thanks to Winchell Chung for the tip on this story.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/10/2009)

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")

X-Control Janus-1 A Suitcase Aircraft
'You will notice that it... fits the suitcase nicely.' - E.D. Skinner, 1929.

Time Crystals Can Now Be Seen Directly
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.' - NK Heming, 1952.

China Steals Strato Airship Design From Google App Engine
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.' - George Griffith, 1893.

Biohybrid Jellyfish Explore The Ocean
As predicted, and detailed, by science fiction writers!

	Web TechNovelgy.com

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Musk Idea Of Cars Talking To Each Other Predicted 70 Years Ago
'My cars talk to one another.'

Elegant Bivouac Shelter Produces Water And Electricity
'There was nowhere on the planet where science and technology could not provide one with a comfortable home...'

X-Control Janus-1 A Suitcase Aircraft
'You will notice that it... fits the suitcase nicely.'

'AI Assistants' Are Actually Less Reliable For News
'Most men updated their PIP on New Year's Day...'

YES!! Remote Teleoperated Robots predicted by Technovelgy!
'...a misshapen, many-tentacled thing about twice the size of a man.'

Will Robots Ever Fold Landry?
Where have you gone, Mrs. Robinson?

Will AIs Give Better Results If You're Rude To Them?
'I said, "Listen up, motherf*cker.'

Cybertruck Robotic Arm F10 Drone Launch!
Drone away!

Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time'

Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China
'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'

Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'

Will Robots Become Family Caregivers?
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'

Chinese Tokamak Uses AI To Keep Fusion Plasma Stable
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'

Time Crystals Can Now Be Seen Directly
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'

RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'

Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories