Tag: nanophotonics

• Boosting solar cell efficiency with wires smaller than the wavelength of light

  Researchers working on the next generation of photovoltaic solar cells—cells that convert sunlight directly into electrical current—are looking toward exotic materials (which are expensive) or more common substances, but use subtler methods to extract energy. A new study used a basic semiconductor material, already in use in solar cell research, but made it into a…

  Matthew R. Francis

  January 20, 2013

  Ars Technica, Writing for Other Sites

  nanophotonics, photovoltaic cells, solar power

• Foreign contaminant! Detection on molecular level using gold nanodots

  Metamaterials are a fascinating subject, worthy of a blog post at some point (to be written in my copious spare time, of course). If a real material won’t do what you need, you design one. Instead of atoms, you place small dots (known as quantum dots or nanodots) containing semiconducting or metallic atoms in a…

  Matthew R. Francis

  January 15, 2013

  Ars Technica, Writing for Other Sites

  metamaterials, nanophotonics, nanotechnology

• 4,096 miniature antennas on a chip send shaped light

  Phased arrays consist of multiple antennas, all driven from a single source. By combining the output from all those antennas, you can make the light very directional, or give it a particular shape. Typically, phased arrays use radio light: big radar installations use them, as does the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes. A…

  Matthew R. Francis

  January 9, 2013

  Ars Technica, Writing for Other Sites

  nanophotonics, nanotechnology, phased arrays