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Researchers Prove Existence Of New Type Of Electron Wave
ScienceDaily is reporting that physicists at the University of New Hampshire have discovered the existence of a new type of electron wave on metal surfaces. "The acoustic surface plasmon, which will have implications for developments in nano-optics, high-temperature superconductors, and the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on surfaces. [...] 'The existence of this wave means that the electrons on the surfaces of copper, iron, beryllium and other metals behave like water on a lake's surface,' says Diaconescu, a postdoctoral research associate in the Condensed Matter Group of the physics department at UNH. 'When a stone is thrown into a lake, waves spread radially in all directions. A similar wave can be created by the electrons on a metal surface when they are disturbed, for instance, by light.'"
Researchers Prove Existence Of New Type Of Electron Wave
A ha... so that's how they accomplished that perpetual energy machine.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
Ah, RingTFA tells me it's the former. I suppose that's what I get.
...who have said that their speaker cable is designed to minimize "skin effect" have some science behind them. It has only take +20 years of this being touted as "science" in the speaker cable industry. Now there is some real science behind it.
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
The SKIN effect , big deal , just because you cannot feel or hear
the effect , does not mean it does not exist. Frequency people.
This actually makes intuitive sense, when think about the eddy currents that I've heard exist within a conductor's cross section - why a circular conductor works better that a rectangular conductor.
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
"Acoustic surface plasmons have long been predicted on merely theoretical grounds, their existence has been extraordinarily difficult to prove experimentally." Maybe that's why they have such high hopes.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
Somehow I doubt the wave is new. It's only our understanding of it that is new.
Scientific American covered this in an article 2 months ago. (print version yet!)
It is cool though. There may be some nice tech possibilities here. The SA article mentioned higher density HDDs and some chip interface effects. Maybe even a direct optical/electronic interface. Still, the work was done over a year ago. Reports have been coming in. Just not a new report here.
Everybody knows 3 people with my name.
Does it also defeat cancer
Only in best two out of three.
Does it also defeat cancer, cure the common cold, disintegrate warts, and eliminate smelly feet? It seems like a lot of big claims are being made for something just discovered.
They've had theories for a while, and the theories indicate that some of the properties may be useful for these things. Now that they have established them as fact AND can reproduce them in a lab environment, they can determine if their guesses ( I would put any one of the researchers guesses against a million of yours ) are in any way accurate.
Science; Gotta love it
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Can anyone explain what's new here? My 20-year old text book on surface physics talks about
surface plasmons, and I heard about acoustic (bulk) plasmons in my undergrad studies min the mid-90:s.
What's new, the existence of acoustic plasmons at surfaces?
I, who have a PhD in surface physics don't care, so I think 99.99% of even slashdot, don't care.
'When a stone is thrown into a lake, waves spread radially in all directions. A similar wave can be created by the electrons on a metal surface when they are disturbed, for instance, by light.'
Continued Diaconescu, 'This is sure to make a splash in the community. Our detractors have been trying to sink our efforts, and have been making waves at the conferences about this effect not being real, but this will certainly throw them in the deep end. The real lifesaver, though, will be our refined dataset, which is in stark contrast to our previous watered-down set. They will drown in the data.'
Towards the Singularity.
"Be like water"
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Can I also install Linux on this new electron wave?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
maybe water surfaces behave like electrons.
I modeled surface plasmons on PEC surfaces in 1999 using dirac-delta plane-waves and FDTD analysis. In fact, I think there has been a lot of research in using physical optics methods to better enhance numerical modeling of EM scattering and surface waves. The military has been conducting research in RCS reduction by using these methods to characterize how incident pulse radars set up radiating fields on surfaces.
Absolutely nothing new here. Most of this stuff is in Junior-level EM texts.
I sense a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of electrons cried out in waves, and were silenced by destructive interference.
"A similar wave can be created by the electrons on a metal surface when they are disturbed, for instance, by light."
I get disturbed by light too - like when I am asleep and someone turns on the light.
But I don't usually wave, I am more likely to punch.
I am anarch of all I survey.
"The acoustic surface plasmon, which will have implications for developments in nano-optics, high-temperature superconductors, and the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on surfaces."
What about the understanding of nuclear reactions on metal surfaces ?
Maybe we deserve this world ?
you may take notice that the 3 (yes only three) regions of interest they suggest the finding may have some merit within, are not exactly the "cures cancer!" type of hyped-up fields. If they'd said "it will make quantum computing possible and proves string theory" then I could see what you're saying...
it certainly does have implications in photonics. a member of my research group will find this very interesting as she's dealing with surface plasmons and their interactions with 1550 nm light, and this shows a method with which to actually measure the plasmons themselves, as opposed to performing a whole lot of inference.
Gee, before reading this I used to think that Plasmon was some type of baby food. http://www.plasmon.it/
- "They misunderestimated me."
Are these dual meanings are some kind of tradition with baby food makers? http://www.semper.fi/
"The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand", or so I have read.
This is true. Its just another piece of PR crap from a second-rate university. They have seen an already-observed phenomenon in a mew material...could have been predicted.
0! 0!
And you all made fun of me when I bought the $100/foot stereo cables after the sales guy explained surface electron effects to me. See, I knew he was as smart as he sounded ;-)
Umm, I think that's pretty much exactly how solar panels work. Light causes the electrons to move (read: energy transfer), which is used to create electricity.
Check out my lame java blog at www.javachopshop.com
and it's the same physical phenomenon as light induced surface plasmons, which people have been using for quite some time, and is even being used in some commerically available systems (Biacore, for example).
That wavelength is used for long-distance fiber connectivity in big, fast, expensive router cards, the kind that telcos and ISPs use. Think 10Gbps up to 80km without repeaters (Take a look at some of these Cisco links for gory details.) The possibility that this development could lead to cheaper or more efficient lasers on that wavelength is good news.
no, almost all Scientist are conservative by nature, They often play down discoveries.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on