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Scientists freeze pulse of light, for an instant
Physicists have said they've managed to bring a pulse of light to a complete stand still for a fraction of a second, an achievement that could someday help scientists develop powerful new computers.
[blockquote]The research differs from work published in 2001 that was hailed at the time as having brought light to standstill. In that work, light pulses were technically "stored" briefly when individual particles of light, or photons, were taken up by atoms in a gas. Harvard University researchers have now topped that feat by truly holding light and its energy in its tracks – if only for a few hundred-thousandths of a second.
"We have succeeded in holding a light pulse still without taking all the energy away from it," said Mikhail D. Lukin, a Harvard physicist.
Harnessing light particles to store and process data could aid the still distant goal of so-called quantum computers, as well as methods for communicating information over long distances without risk of eavesdropping. The research may also have applications for improving conventional fiber-optic communications and data processing techniques that use light as an information carrier. Lukin said the present research is just another step toward efforts to control light, but said additional work is needed to determine if it can aid these applications. Stanford University physicist Stephen Harris said the new research is promising and represents an important scientific first.
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[link=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20031209-2349-frozenlight.html]Read more[/link]
Submitted by csimon
[blockquote]The research differs from work published in 2001 that was hailed at the time as having brought light to standstill. In that work, light pulses were technically "stored" briefly when individual particles of light, or photons, were taken up by atoms in a gas. Harvard University researchers have now topped that feat by truly holding light and its energy in its tracks – if only for a few hundred-thousandths of a second.
"We have succeeded in holding a light pulse still without taking all the energy away from it," said Mikhail D. Lukin, a Harvard physicist.
Harnessing light particles to store and process data could aid the still distant goal of so-called quantum computers, as well as methods for communicating information over long distances without risk of eavesdropping. The research may also have applications for improving conventional fiber-optic communications and data processing techniques that use light as an information carrier. Lukin said the present research is just another step toward efforts to control light, but said additional work is needed to determine if it can aid these applications. Stanford University physicist Stephen Harris said the new research is promising and represents an important scientific first.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20031209-2349-frozenlight.html]Read more[/link]
Submitted by csimon
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