The diamond is held inside a sapphire ring and illuminated by 532-nm green laser. The red light is fluorescence from the NV centres. Credit: Jonathan Breeze, Imperial College London
The breakthrough means masers – the microwave version of lasers – could now be used more widely in a range of applications. The maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), the older microwave frequency sibling of the laser, was invented in 1954. However unlike lasers, which have become widespread, masers are much less widely used because in order to function they must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero (-273°C).
In 2012, scientists demonstrated that a maser could operate at room temperature using the organic molecule pentacene...
Read More
Recent Comments