Jan 11, 2007
Molecular speed bumps
Regular readers will recall my mention of the Kuzyk Quantum Gap a few days ago and how Intute Spotlight would be covering news on how Kuzyk himself is closing the gap.
Well, here’s the spin: New organic molecules that interact with light more strongly than any other materials could provide the template for new high-speed optical switches for telecommunications and data processing, according to an international team of researchers. The same compounds could also act as the basic units of optical memory systems and be used to produce high-density holograms.
Researchers from Washington State University (WSU), the University of Leuven in Belgium and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed and tested an entirely new class of chromophores. The chemists in China synthesised the compounds, which were then evaluated using theoretical calculations by scientists at WSU. The optical properties were then tested by the Belgian team. “To our great excitement, the molecules performed better than any other molecules ever measured,” says WSU physicist Mark Kuzyk.
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I Dvorkian said,
January 18, 2007 at 3:20 am
So, when can I find such molecules in my computer?
David Bradley said,
January 18, 2007 at 8:37 am
Well, as with many of the scientific discoveries that emerge from laboratories there is always a time lag between reporting a discovery and suggesting possible applications and the practical implementation of those discoveries. However, should a company’s interest in the latest discovery be piqued, it can become a race to market. So, to answer your question, while such a discovery languishes in a laboratory it might be many years before it emerges into the world of technology, but with patents and commercial concern, the picture could be very different.