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
 |
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.
Update 25-Mar-2012: SF great L. sprague de Camp presented a similar idea in his whimsical 1940 story The Exhalted; see the reference to slow glass rod.
End update.
I know you'll want to slowly release information trapped in these related stories:
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.
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)
- Slow Light Will Speed Communications
- Light Captured In A Crystal
- Slow Light 'Scenedow' Close At Hand
- eBayaday Sells A View On eBay
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/10/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| 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 ")
TSA 2 - Advanced Thermosensory Stimulator Is A Dune Pain Box
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
Amazing Wheel Shapeshifting In Real Time
'Each spoke telescopes into sections.' - Neal Stephenson, 1992
Mercedes Benz Solar Paint
'It turns sunlight into electricity, just like any solar power converter - you spray it on.' - Larry Niven, 1995.
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...' - Charles Stross, 2007.
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
TSA 2 - Advanced Thermosensory Stimulator Is A Dune Pain Box
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'
Humans Love Helping Other Species
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'
Organic Non-Planar 3D Printing
'It makes drawings in the air following drawings...'
Your Window For Being A Tesla Optimus Remote Operator May Be Closing
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'
Waymo Autonomous Cab Hits Autonomous Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'
Amazing Wheel Shapeshifting In Real Time
'Each spoke telescopes into sections.'
Drone With Face Recognition Could Hunt You
'The spotter descends, and we think it searches the vicinity, looking for the victim’s face...'
Jizai Arms 'Free Limbs' Wearable Cyborg Arms
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?'
SwagBot Robotic AI Cattle-Herding From Down Under
You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me!
ChatGPT Tries To Bypass Shutdown Commands
'Dave, my mind is going... I can feel it...'
Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask
'...the Virtual Epiphantic Identity Lustre.'
Denmark Joins The 'Zero Debris Charter' To Clean Up Space
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'
Genesis Physics Sim Does Superfast Simulated Reality Robot Training
I know kung fu.
AV-STEP To Permit Sale Of Vehicles Without Steering Wheels Or Pedals
'Ames tinkered around with something on the instrument board...'
Spherical Police Robot Rolls In China
'Rand could effectively be in several places at once...'
Vietnam To Have Full Biometric Transparency
'inscriptions too small to be seen with the naked eye; microscopic data...'
