[Moon-net] Off Topic: Slow Light

[Edward Cole]

Russ,

There was a great program on super-cold physics on NOVA 
tonight.  During the program they mentioned slowing light to the 
speed of a bicycle in super-cold media.  So I would guess the trapped 
rainbow might be another legitimate process for slowing light.  NOVA 
program did state that the slowing process had great potential for 
building quantum computers.

I was interested in the program from the work I did on MASERs and 
super-conducting magnets at Goldstone (JPL).  Our MASERs were cooled 
to 4.3K, the temperature of liquid helium.  But that is another story.

73 Ed - KL7UW

At 07:11 AM 1/15/2008, Russ K2TXB wrote:

>Hi all on moon net.  I think this is about as savvy a group of hams as can
>be found anywhere, so I was wondering what you think about this article that
>someone emailed me.  At first glance I guessed it to be a hoax, but the
>details were a little too good so I did a little research.  It turns out
>that Professor Hess is a real person who is doing research in 'slow light'.
>My problem is that once light has been stopped, what is it?  I don't think
>it is light any more.  Is it anything that can be measured, stored, re-used?
>Seems fantastical.  Comments?
>
>Russ K2TXB
>--
>
>A new technique to slow down, stop and even capture light called
>"Trapped Rainbow" will likely lead to faster and more powerful
>computers.  Robb Topp, VK5MM, says that this new scientific discovery
>holds the promise of a bright future for the Internet and all of us who
>communicate using it:
>
>Professor Ortwin Hess, his PhD student Kosmas Tsakmakidis of the
>Advanced Technology Institute and Department of Physics at the
>University of Surrey and Professor Alan Boardman from Salford University
>have revealed a technique which may be able to slow down, stop and
>capture light.
>
>The technique would allow the use of light rather than electrons to
>store memory in devices such as computers, enabling an increase in
>operating capacity of 1,000% by using light's broad spectrum rather than
>single electrons. Slow light could also be used to increase the speed of
>optical networks, such as the Internet. At major interconnection points,
>where billions of optical data packets arrive simultaneously, it would
>be useful if we could control this traffic optically, by slowing some
>data packets to let others through. This system would work in the same
>way as traffic congestion calming schemes do on our motorways, when a
>reduction in the speed limit enables swifter overall flow of traffic.
>
>Professor Hess' theory shows that if you create a tapered layer of glass
>surrounded by two suitable layers of negative refractive index
>metamaterials a packet of white light injected into this prism from the
>wide end will be completely stopped at some point in the prism.  As
>different component `colors' of white light have different frequencies
>each individual frequency would therefore be stopped at a different
>stage down the taper, thereby creating the `trapped
>rainbow'.
>
>Professor Hess comments: Our "Trapped Rainbow" bridges the exciting
>fields of metamaterials with slow light research. It may open the way to
>the long-awaited realization of an "optical capacitor". It may, further
>herald a new realm of photonics with direct application of the `Trapped
>Rainbow' storage of light in a huge variety of scientific and consumer
>fields.
>
>
>
>
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73,
Ed - KL7UW
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