Visit JCAtom's column >>

JCATOM

Add To Watchlist
Articles Posted: 12; Links Seeded: 906
Member Since: 4/2008Last Seen: 11/06/2009

Compound Could Help Detect Chemical & Biological Agents at a Distance

advertisement

A light-transmitting compound that could one day be used in high-efficiency fiber optics and sensors that detect biological and chemical weapons at long distance almost went undiscovered by scientists because its structure was too difficult to examine.

More Articles

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
1.5
{"commentId":3221646,"authorDomain":"jcatom"}

"Like other such materials, this material has an electrically polarized structure," said Argonne scientist Mercouri Kanatzidis. "The incident light interacts with the electron cloud and in the process is disturbed. The disturbance changes the wavelength of the emitted light and creates two beams: the original and the second harmonic - a beam with half the wavelength and double the frequency."

This second-harmonic beam is 15 times more intense than that produced by the best current material. This two-for-one wavelength boost is paired with greater transparency, so the material can actually transmit the whole higher-wavelength beam.

These properties could have eventual real-world applications in identifying biological and chemical weapons at long distances and in optical communications.

{"commentId":3221646,"threadId":"373359","contentId":"1934577","authorDomain":"jcatom"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:47 AM EDT
{"canLink":false,"threadId":"373359","isPrivate":false}
Leave a Comment:
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
{"threadId":"373359","contentId":"1934577"}
Start TrackingStart Tracking
Stop TrackingStop Tracking