Feb 24 2011
Researchers at the Yale University have developed a device that can nullify light beams produced by a laser. The device, termed as anti-laser, can be used as a component in optical computers that will utilize light rather than electrons to process the data.
The scientists have also claimed that the innovative device can absorb light of a specific wavelength.
The scientists developed a silicon wafer, called Coherent Perfect Absorber (CPA), which captures and scatters incoming coherent light of a preset wavelength. i.e., the CPA absorbs coherent light and the energy of the light is dispelled as heat. The light can be used to encode data.
For example, the device can be utilized in optical switches, which will absorb light of a specific wavelength and allow light of different wavelengths to pass through. It can also be utilized to identify incoming light or to direct light beams towards particular routes. Thus, optical switches could substitute transistors in future computers. The size of the parts of the optical computers would be much smaller than that of current electron-based technologies.
Existing CPA device absorbs 99.4% of all light. However, the researchers are continuing their work to improve the value by up to 99.999%. According to them, the current CPA measures 1 cm and can be reduced to 6 ì.