Artist’s rendition of a quantum thermometer, a micron-scale mechanical device that can provide highly accurate temperature. Credit: Emily Edwards/Joint Quantum Institute
Versatile optomechanical beams have potential applications in biology, chemistry, electronics. In an arranged marriage of optics and mechanics, physicists have created microscopic structural beams that have a variety of powerful uses when light strikes them. Able to operate in ordinary, room-temperature environments, yet exploiting some of the deepest principles of quantum physics, these optomechanical systems can act as inherently accurate thermometers, or conversely, as a type of optical shield that diverts heat.
The potential applications include chip-based temperature sensors for electronics and biology that would neve...
Read More
Recent Comments