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New Optomechanical Crystal Allows Confinement of Light and Sound
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."'"
Photoacoustic transducer (1998).
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Since the title bar is red.
It's about time we got some better watch technology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonon
If they are literally trapped, can this be used as some form of solid/trapped state memory?
...a cone of silence that (doesn't) work as intended.
...and maybe have a new kind of microwave antenna?
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
A crystal that captures light and sound...? Wouldn't that be called a DVD?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
This brings to mind the Cone of Silence...
Facts are useless, they can be used to prove anything.
Optomechanical Crystal Allows Confinement of Light and Sound ..... Upon hearing the news, General Zod was heard to say... "ohh crap"
It's not Steampunk fiction meanderings, it's real-life science! Wow.
Porquoi?
Sounds like what my mechanic told me what was wrong with my truck.
"You're Flux Capacitor is bad. That will cost you (pinky up!) One Miiiiiillion Dollars!! Wait....One Hundred Biiiiillion dollars!!!"
Physicists and engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a nanoscale crystal that traps both light and sound.
And due to a bizarre property of quantum entanglement, the trapped light and sound can never be reproduced again. Finally we'll be rid of Kanye West.
I don't see how this is news. The concept of optical and acoustic phonons has been around for at least the past 50 years. It's long been understood that optical and acoustic phonons exist in periodic potential crystal lattices. It's also been long understood that you can excite both optical and acoustic phonons using optical photons. This is the premise behind coherent raman scattering, which has long been observed. The article makes it seem like this is the first time this concept has ever been discovered.
It really annoys me when "prestigious" university professors publish crap like this. They make it sound like they've discovered some new amazing phenomenon and prey on the public's lack of understanding of physics to get a nice pat on the back, and perhaps a fat paycheck, from university bigwigs who like having their institution linked with these "discoveries". About once a year, some professor tells the world he has transmitted information at faster-than-light speeds, and everyone buys it, but it always comes down to group velocity - a concept discovered and understood over a century ago.
Demonstrate this new tech by making a nano-rickroll inside a chrystal.
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
They used one of these to trap the bad guys in that old Superman movie.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
An entire Telephone/ISP network will now fit on a computer chip? Methinks it's time to get out of the telecomm industry...
I'm not sure what applications extremely high frequency vibrations have, but I'm thinking that this could be used to make better quality audio speakers, microphones, ultrasound, sonar, etc.
If you have such fine control over vibrations, perhaps you could create fancier waveforms, for sound that has weird properties. Phased array sonar?
Constructive and destructive interference?
I own a pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones that I enjoy, so maybe that tech would be enhanced by these crystals. Or perhaps you could make sonic weapons by building up massive disruptor wave pulses
I'm trying to think of what high frequency synchrotron radiation makes possible through EM. The extremly short wavelengths allow imaging of very tiny objects like molecules. So would extremely short mechanical wavelengths allow extremely fine sonic imaging of... individual cells?
When can I get my own Starship? ENGAGE!
"New Optomechanical Crystal Allows Confinement of Light and Sound"
Oddly enough they named it RIAA.
How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased? Please respond Optomechanical Crystal !
Obviously the nano scale fabrication seen here is an innovation, but the idea of acoustic-optical interactions is not a fundamentally new one. For example an acousto-optical tunable filter uses piezo-actuation (sound) to setup standing waves in a crystal that modulates a band-pass filter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acousto-optics
Put a crap load of these on top of a huge pile of high frequency vibration sensitive super explosives and a cheap ten year battery powered lazer pulser pointed at the crystals in one of those nifty photon torpedo shaped things from the movie and what have you got? Instant photon torpedo.
Why bother
Finally! One step closer to lightsabers!
Am I the first to be dazzled by this?
When electron tubes gave way to transistors I sensed a revolution in progress, but it was hard to wrap my brain around a simple transistor being able to do such a variety of things with such a small energy cost.
Now this. My now aged brain struggles to comprehend and see the implications. I expect all to be revealed in this forum.
...omphaloskepsis often...
There appears to be a trapped particle vibrating in your first n.
Hey lets wrap the whole solar system in this stuff so less advanced aliens can't spy on us.
The concept of this material reminded me of Bob Shaw's science fiction story "The Light of Other Days" in which "slow glass" is used to capture scenes and images which could be released later. Interesting!
for electric guitars!
...nanoscale crystal that traps both light and sound...
It's only a matter of time before some idiot unleashes... nano disco...(sob)
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
now i'm waiting for my fiber-optic headphones
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This guy has a forum signature that "Light is faster than sound. That is why people appear bright until you hear them speak."
Now you can capture both in an optomechanical crystal. I would like to see how he weighs in on the issue.
I regret that I only have one mod point to give per post.
So we are starting to find some Ballybran-like crystal!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Singer
It's a trap!
vibronic modes in the nano-structure
I can totally, like, dig that man.
My name is Painter, Corel Painter.
> a nanoscale crystal that traps both light and sound
Such a thing would be eminently useful as a plot device for japanese anime. Supervillains, whom those miniskirt high-school girls battle day after day, usually steal light, singing and music from people to make their lives miserable. Now the bad guys have a storage for all that happiness they removed from people.
porn
This crystal technology is the similar to the ancient technology of Atlantis and other ancient civilizations. This is just re-discovered.
We finally have the technology to destroy PinHead forever. Amen.
"I don't which is worse, that everyone has a price, or that the price is always so low"--Hobbes
Mechanical vibrations = heat = energy, produced from simple light and sound. These crystals could form the basis for new forms of energy production. Create a massive array of these things and you end up with a new form of panel that uses both photons and sound waves for energy production.
Might be fantasy but imagine the mere light and sounds of daytime Manhattan providing power to the city.