The Next Step from Semiconductors: Light-Controlled Nano Switches

The nanotechnology world may be set up for a boost with the new discovery that light, such as infrared, creates a pushing or pulling force when split into two beams that each travel on a different length of silicon nanowire, called a wave guide (as illustrated in the above photo). Because the beams are not in phase, they create a repulsive force that is adjustable. The more out of phase the rays are, the greater the force.

The new technology might give you images of Iron Man with his repulsor beams and Luke Skywalker with his light saber, but the phenomenon behind it does not work in free space, according to Mo Li, a postdoctoral associate in electrical aengineering at Yale University. Li says it only works when light is confined in the nanoscale waveguides that are placed very close to each other on the chip.

The engineers see this new light-force technology could pave the way for nanodevices that are controlled by light instead of electrical switches, the latest of which are made possible with semiconductors. It is believed that light switches will make future gadgets and devices like computers lighter and cooler, both literally and figuratively.

Aluminum Foil Sheet Lights to Illuminate the Future

First there was the light bulb. Then came the long fluorescent tube lights. Now it seems that lights will soon come as sheets that you can stick to surfaces. New light technology using aluminum foil sheets now make this possible. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign produced the sheet lighting by simply immersing aluminum foil from the grocery store in an acid bath which gave it a mesh of holes, and in the process, also turning the aluminum into sapphire (an aluminum oxide) that allows electricity to flow through the sheet without breaking down the structure.

The aluminum-sapphire sheet is then sealed between two sheets of thin glass with the spaces made by the holes filled with a gas. When electricity is made to flow through the contraption, plasma is created in the gas-filled microscopic holes, producing light. The lead researcher, Gary Eden, says that the light it makes is brighter and uses less energy than incandescent bulbs. The product is also extremely cheap and even disposable. The sheet light is less than a millimeter thick with the glass forming the bulk.

Different types of sheet lighting concurrently being developed (like the light-emitting diode or LED sheet light shown at left) will soon revolutionize the way the world is lit. Just imagine surfaces coated with them such that even your backpack, wall, or even car can be covered and personalized.

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Perfect Invisibility Cloak Almost a Reality but Still Out of Sight

The movies are fascinated by invisibility, and now it seems scientists are also. There's news that researchers at Duke University are on the verge of making a cloak that is able to bend electromagnetic radiation like light and others of different wavelengths. They say new materials invented are making this possible. But what exactly are these new materials and how exactly do they bend light enough to create the illusion that there's "nothing there?"

The researchers, led by David R. Smith, say that they have developed mathematical commands that would now allow the manufacture of metamaterials that can be placed in a certain algorithmic pattern that will allow deflection of electromagnetic waves. Smith says the invention can now cloak an almost limitless number of waves.

The invisibility cloak is comprised of 10,000 individual pieces of fiberglass arranged in rows. Of course, the details of the formulas used are kept secret but we may soon see the final invention working as expected in the near future - or maybe not. You can see how effective it works in one of the videos that follow.





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