Guest_Jim_* Posted February 25, 2016 Posted February 25, 2016 Transmitting data by optical signals has become increasingly important as people want more information faster. To achieve these increased speeds new technologies will be necessary for modulating the signals. Researchers at Northwestern University have recently made an important discovery for how to control plasmons in the near and mid-infrared ranges of light. Plasmons are quasiparticles that come from the oscillations of electrons that have been excited by photons. This means the information the photons are carrying can be passed to the electrons. By controlling plasmons, optical switches can be made that could potentially operate in the terahertz. So far though, active plasmonics have only been demonstrated in the ultraviolet and visible areas of the spectrum, and require noble metals like gold. For near and mid-infrared wavelengths these metals suffer too much loss to be useful. To solve this problem, the researchers turned to nanorod arrays of indium tin oxide, or ITO. By controlling the geometry of the arrays the researchers can tune the spectral range they work on. The ability to modulate these signals has applications in telecommunications, thermal engineering, infrared sensing, light emission and imaging. Source: Northwestern University Back to original news post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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