Call it the anti - optical maser . Instead of amplifying luminance , it would soak it up completely , entrust consummate dark .
A laser shines by producing a cascade of photons that rebound around inside a light - amplifying fabric before exiting from one remainder . A team at Yale University marvel what would happen if they could reverse the process , making the material absorb rather than let loose a laser beam .
Most laser let out from one oddment , but it ’s also possible to make lasers pass off two very ray of light in diametrical directions . This require take in superposable , part transparent layers at both ends of a slab of a lightly - breathe cloth such as gallium arsenide .
The research worker calculated that if a clean - absorbing stuff like silicon were used rather , then at certain wavelengths , two identical laser beams shone at once at each other would completely cancel themselves out inside the material .
A paper - thin piece of silicon would normally absorb about 20 per centime of the incoming light , but the team showed that in this set - up it would cancel nearly all of the Inner Light at 945 nanometres , in the near infrared ( Physical Review Letters , vol 105 , p 053901 ) .
So far the burden be only on paper , but team memberDouglas Stonesays “ ongoing experiments are extremely promising , and I have total confidence it can be see ” . The vim from the cancelled beams is converted into heat , but if it could somehow be turn into current , the effect could allow pulse in fibre - optic cables to be converted with high-pitched efficiency into electrical signals .
Image of optical maser Inner Light show byJTHammondand only used for demonstrative purposes .
New Scientistreports , explores and interprets the results of human try correct in the context of use of society and culture , providing comprehensive coverage of skill and technology news .
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