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    Category Physics

    Using Mirrors to Improve the Quality of Light Particles

    September 11, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A property of NV centers in diamond is that the states of their electron spins can be determined from the photons they emit. Placing a system of this kind between two mirrors can considerably improve the rate and yield of emitted photons. As a result, key conditions are met for using NV centers in quantum technology applications. Credit: University of Basel, Department of Physics

    A property of NV centers in diamond is that the states of their electron spins can be determined from the photons they emit. Placing a system of this kind between two mirrors can considerably improve the rate and yield of emitted photons. As a result, key conditions are met for using NV centers in quantum technology applications. Credit: University of Basel, Department of Physics

    Scientists have succeeded in dramatically improving the quality of individual photons generated by a quantum system and have put a 10-year-old theoretical prediction into practice. They have taken an important step towards future applications in quantum information technology. For a number of years, scientists have been working on using electron spins to store and process information...

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    High-Speed Quantum Memory for Photons

    September 10, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Schematic of a quantum network: single photons transmit quantum information between the network nodes, where they are stored in an atomic gas. (Illustration: University of Basel, Department of Physics)

    Schematic of a quantum network: single photons transmit quantum information between the network nodes, where they are stored in an atomic gas. (Illustration: University of Basel, Department of Physics)

    Physicists from the University of Basel have developed a memory that can store photons. These quantum particles travel at the speed of light and are thus suitable for high-speed data transfer. The researchers were able to store them in an atomic vapor and read them out again later without altering their quantum mechanical properties too much. This memory technology is simple and fast and it could find application in a future quantum Internet.

    Even today, fast data transfer in telecommunication networks employs short light pulses...

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    When Electrons Ride a Wave

    September 10, 2017, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Physics

    In a so-called target chamber, the light pulse of the high-performance laser DRACO hits a gas-jet. The aim is to accelerate electrons to almost the speed of light on a distance shorter than a pencil's width. Credit: HZDR / F. Bierstedt

    In a so-called target chamber, the light pulse of the high-performance laser DRACO hits a gas-jet. The aim is to accelerate electrons to almost the speed of light on a distance shorter than a pencil’s width. Credit: HZDR / F. Bierstedt

    Optimum conditions for Laser Plasma acceleration. Conventional electron accelerators have become an indispensable tool in modern research. The extremely bright radiation generated by synchrotrons, or free electron lasers, provides us with unique insights into matter at the atomic level. But even the smallest versions of these super microscopes are the size of a soccer field. Laser plasma acceleration could offer an alternative: with a much smaller footprint and much higher peak currents it could be the basis for the next generation of compact light sources...

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    Scientists unravel new Insights into Promising Semiconductor material

    September 10, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Various configurations of oxygen adsorption with corresponding energies. (a) Sulphur, molybdenum, and oxygen are represented by yellow, blue, and red spheres, respectively. The sulphur vacancy site is represented by the cross. (b) Nudged elastic band calculation of the energy barrier for migration of an oxygen molecule towards a sulphur vacancy and respective trapping. The energy barrier, measured from the starting point, is 56 meV. The calculation was performed in the spin-averaged state. (c) Calculated ionization levels for relevant defects (all energies are in eV). VBM and CBM refer to the valence band maximum and conduction band minima, respectively. (d) Representation of the charge density of the trapped electrons at sulfur vacancies.

    Various configurations of oxygen adsorption with corresponding energies. (a) Sulphur, molybdenum, and oxygen are represented by yellow, blue, and red spheres, respectively. The sulphur vacancy site is represented by the cross. (b) Nudged elastic band calculation of the energy barrier for migration of an oxygen molecule towards a sulphur vacancy and respective trapping. The energy barrier, measured from the starting point, is 56 meV. The calculation was performed in the spin-averaged state. (c) Calculated ionization levels for relevant defects (all energies are in eV). VBM and CBM refer to the valence band maximum and conduction band minima, respectively. (d) Representation of the charge density of the trapped electrons at sulfur vacancies.

    National University of Singapore (NUS) researchers...

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