http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Rice University scientists have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color. The breakthrough by a team of theoretical and applied physicists and engineers at Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news288359175.html Nanotechnology Tue, 21 May 2013 12:47:04 EST news288359175 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to make computer chips even faster than those of today, many researchers have recently been investigating the possibility of optical computing. In an optical computer, information is encoded as photons rather than electrons, allowing large amounts of data to be processed simultaneously. But before an optical computer can be realized, researchers need to design a 3D structure that can sufficiently manipulate light. Electronic computers switch electric current on and off using semiconductors with band gaps for electrons, in which electric current is forbidden to pass through. By analogy, optical computers are expected to require optical semiconductors with photonic band gaps, in which light of a range of wavelengths is forbidden to pass through. http://phys.org/news240763906.html Physics Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:05:29 EST news240763906 Dutch researchers at the University of Twente's MESA+ research institute, together with ASML, TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) and TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology) have developed a method for etching 3D structures in silicon. These structures behave as photonic crystals (semiconductors for light), making it possible to manipulate light in all sorts of novel ways. For instance, you can use them to "trap" light, or to create zones that are impenetrable to light of specific wavelengths. This method brings the optical computer (a much faster type of computer that uses optical bits instead of electronic ones) one step closer. The researchers give details of their method in two articles that will soon be published in the scientific journals Advanced Functional Materials and the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B. http://phys.org/news239883104.html Physics Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:12:40 EST news239883104 Imagine printing your own room lighting, lasers, or solar cells from inks you buy at the local newsagent. Jacek Jasieniak and his colleagues at CSIRO, the University of Melbourne and the University of Padua in Italy, have moved a step closer to such a future, by developing liquid inks based on quantum dots that can be used to print devices. http://phys.org/news197224539.html Physics Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:36:05 EST news197224539 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of European researchers has demonstrated some of the first commercially viable plasmonic devices, paving the way for a new era of high-speed communications and computing in which electronic and optical signals can be handled simultaneously. http://phys.org/news174907144.html Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:21:05 EST news174907144