Everything you know is wrong: lasers are cooling things now
A group of scientists at the University of Washington were able to successfully refrigerate water using an infrared laser. This is a big deal because researchers weren't even sure this was possible as water tends to heat up when illuminated. However, by using an infrared laser and nanocrystal, it surprisingly created the opposite effect, which is a world first. The team of scientists were able to cool liquid water by 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). The crystal absorbed the light's photons and then when the photons were released, they had a higher energy value compared to when they first entered. These photons then scattered and carried away heat, cooling the surrounding water.
This discovery can be applied to a number of scientific processes, like studying cell division and enzyme function by cooling and slowing down the entire process without killing the cells. It could even be applied commercially, to create powerful manufacturing lasers that would otherwise overheat and melt.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ever...ar-BBneOWh
Defect-free Film is the Future of Materials Science
An emerging class of atomically thin materials known as monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science. Monolayers hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high efficiency solar cells, photo detectors, and nanoscale transistors. Their downside? The films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance.
But now a research team, led by engineers at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has found a simple way to fix these defects through the use of an organic superacid. The chemical treatment led to a dramatic 100-fold increase in the material’s photoluminescence quantum yield, a ratio describing the amount of light generated by the material versus the amount of energy put in. The greater the emission of light, the higher the quantum yield and the better the material quality.
http://www.cemag.us/news/2015/11/defect-free-...ls-science
A group of scientists at the University of Washington were able to successfully refrigerate water using an infrared laser. This is a big deal because researchers weren't even sure this was possible as water tends to heat up when illuminated. However, by using an infrared laser and nanocrystal, it surprisingly created the opposite effect, which is a world first. The team of scientists were able to cool liquid water by 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). The crystal absorbed the light's photons and then when the photons were released, they had a higher energy value compared to when they first entered. These photons then scattered and carried away heat, cooling the surrounding water.
This discovery can be applied to a number of scientific processes, like studying cell division and enzyme function by cooling and slowing down the entire process without killing the cells. It could even be applied commercially, to create powerful manufacturing lasers that would otherwise overheat and melt.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ever...ar-BBneOWh
Defect-free Film is the Future of Materials Science
An emerging class of atomically thin materials known as monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science. Monolayers hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high efficiency solar cells, photo detectors, and nanoscale transistors. Their downside? The films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance.
But now a research team, led by engineers at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has found a simple way to fix these defects through the use of an organic superacid. The chemical treatment led to a dramatic 100-fold increase in the material’s photoluminescence quantum yield, a ratio describing the amount of light generated by the material versus the amount of energy put in. The greater the emission of light, the higher the quantum yield and the better the material quality.
http://www.cemag.us/news/2015/11/defect-free-...ls-science
