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Suspended animation: The researchers suspended two waveguides (the horizontal blue cables) to allow them to move freely under the influence of attractive and repulsive optical forces. The vertical blue structures are photonic crystal waveguide supports.
Mo Li
The Yale group's approach demonstrates the possibility of manipulating one beam of light with another, right on the chip, without the need for slow, bulky heaters or external crystals. And because of their ability to harness both positive and negative forces, they can now effectively double the range of control over photonics circuitry.
The group used two identical waveguides--the optical equivalents of electronic wires, encasing the light beams moving through them--and suspended them in a central coupling region to allow them to move freely under the influence of the optical force. Then the researchers sent in a beam of laser light, split it in half, and forced one half through a longer path than the other. When the two halves of light recombined, they were out of phase because of having traveled different path lengths. The researchers found that when the light beams were out of phase, their waveguides repelled each other, but when the light was in phase, the waveguides pulled closer together. Because they could change the phase difference between the beams just by tweaking the wavelength of the input laser light, the researchers ended up with a new "knob" to control the optical force in a very simple step.
Though they weren't transferring information or even turning switches on and off, the group successfully demonstrated the existence of--and easy flipping between--both sides of the force. Their next steps, says Tang, will be to build more complex circuits and improve the efficiency of their technique. They'll also try to make the force stronger. "The bigger the force, the better," Tang says.
The benefit of the Yale work, according to Caltech's Painter, is that the researchers demonstrated the forces used for switching, but they also did it in a silicon system. That shows promise for future integration with microelectronics structures that are already processed on silicon chips. With the flexibility to control the forces right on the chip, key functionality would be added to the silicon microphotonics toolkit. The ultimate goal would be all-optical switches and devices, such as an optical bus that transfers information through a CPU with no electronic parts at all.
A silicon nanobeam uses optical force to do mechanical work in an integrated circuit.
Virtual particles called excitons could speed data through telecom networks.
For the first time, a silicon-based optical cable will be commercially available.
Basic Research making the components
Much of the research done on Silicon optics has been monumental over the last 8 years! For example we can slow light, stop light, transmit light through silicon, amplify light through silicon, and now combined or subtract light.
These are all fundamental functions needed to make more complex silicon optical electrical devices. So for now I think they are doing smart research, clarifying the basic functions, before moving into more complex applications! My hats is off to this team for their great work!
Dr. Brian Glassman
Ph.D Innovation Management from Purdue University
amplifying light to laser quality
Nice question about amplifying light but I recall a basic laser device simply bounces light back and forth which is the same as forward and reverse light and then when the maximum yield is reached one end of the tube is opened and the light comes out as Laser Light, all starting from a basic internal light source. Course the gas is a particular influence to prevent overheating & keeps its integrity so it does not spectrum inside the tube caused by light and yet achieving Laser quality from a ordinary light source is amplifying light. Perhaps 'niravadesai' would like to build a simple laser to discover this principle.
If I could study this more rapidly I would incorporate it into the operation within the Four "Component Vehicle Manufacturing Plant(s)" (better known as 'The Fabrication Component Center') and include audio/video feeds in the light as a bonus for all of the rooms. It is a nice idea to think that magnetic resonance could generate electricity but if you think about it light can as well create electricity so why do we not consider making electric helicopters that do not need electrical cable connections to recharge since they could use a landing pads light course. Richard a old friend of mine long ago reached the point of sending audio/video through light to broadcast a TV show and then we lit a light bulb without using any power line. He had a nice experimental electronic kit and seemed more capable at accomplishing anything at all with it. I never had such when I was in Junior High School, he was a High School Grad. We together envisioned the future where electric cars were to be owned by everyone, only some construction businesses and food service businesses could afford gasoline and diesel fuels, isn't that the way we are heading today with a gasoline tax threatening to tax our transportation needs, adding a Health Care Tax would double the burden on taxpayers, any surtax on Health Care risks the essence of a free society making it a risk to endorse when aircraft crash producing lawsuits that aim at the gamblers dream come true. What would be expected, a rebate for those whom won awards from courts because they need Health Care, awards from courts could reach more than a million dollars each?
Re: amplifying light to laser quality
Dear Sir,
I was referring to semiconductor optical amplifiers which could be integrated with the semiconductor lasers on the same chip. You can find more information on them at this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_amplifier
Where can i find details of how this force arises? With out understanding the details what i see is beams of light causing either positive or negative forces on 2 wave guides depending on phase relationship. Could the attractive and repulsive forces be viewed as microscopic curvatures in space, or is it better explained another way?
Dose this have implactions for astrophyics
Could the discovery of a new force not totaly change the shape of how things like black wholes and other objictes with supper high light denisties are thought to work.
eaven forces this small would affect things like red-shift over billions of light year distances
so what am i missing when there is no comment on such possiabilates and definatly no uproar in the physic community
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niravadesai
2 Comments
Can we not use Optical Amplifiers for the same purpose ?
Also how can changing between attractive and repulsive forces provide amplification ?
Reply