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Mastering Light

Posted by michael on from the heel dept.

thyristor writes "'Researchers at MIT document the ultimate control over light: a way to shift the frequency of light beams to any desired colour, with near 100 per cent efficiency. This technology could revolutionise a range of fields, from turning heat into light, or even into prized terahertz rays - which hold great promise for medical imaging. It could also make it possible to focus a wide range of frequencies into a narrow band, make devices such as light bulbs and solar cells more efficient, and help to keep optical telecommunications networks moving.' These are probably the most exciting results in photonics in the last decade."

2 of 415 comments (clear)

  1. They mentioned turning heat into light... by SkyLeach · · Score: 0, Redundant

    So now in a few years might we be able to light our homes with the excess heat from overclocking our PCs? Perhpas drive some cool fiberoptic case mods?

    Oh I can't wait for this one to be commercialized, but chances are I'll be too old to be l33t by then. =(

    --
    My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so :-p
  2. Imagine the heatsinks... by guanno · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...you could make with this technology were it in production. Those old Durons and heat-sinkless video cards could translate to some funky server room back-lighting. Just think of the kinds of case mods which would be possible...

    -guanno