New Mirror Reverses Magnetic Field of Light Waves
A scanning electron microscope image of some of the magnetic mirror's "fish scale"-shaped aluminum nanowires.Image source: Alexander Schwanecke / PhysOrg.com
Laura Mgrdichian writes on PhysOrg.com:
A research group has devised a new type of mirror that reverses the magnetic field of a light wave upon reflection, rather than its electric field, as regular mirrors do. Seems like a minor difference? It's not.More here.
“Our mirror's ability to reverse the magnetic field of a light wave but not its electric field is extremely unusual,” physicist Alexander Schwanecke, the study's corresponding scientist, said to PhysOrg.com. Schwanecke is a researcher at the NanoPhotonics Portfolio Centre at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. “It is the first demonstration of an entirely new type of optical tool.”
The mirror’s potential to work with near-infrared light (light close to the visible range but still in the infrared) could make it advantageous to the telecommunications industry, in which near-infrared light is commonly used.
posted by Fergie @ 1/10/2007 10:20:00 AM
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