Observations of a Non-Scientist about Sustainable Living, Renewable Energy and the Power of the Sun.

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- Mahatma Gandhi

Saturday, February 4, 2012

New kind of high-temperature photonic crystal could someday power everything from smartphones to spacecraft

New kind of high-temperature photonic crystal could someday power everything from smartphones to spacecraft: "A team of MIT researchers has developed a way of making a high-temperature version of a kind of materials called photonic crystals, using metals such as tungsten or tantalum. The new materials — which can operate at temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius — could find a wide variety of applications powering portable electronic devices, spacecraft to probe deep space, and new infrared light emitters that could be used as chemical detectors and sensors."

A microscope image of the tungsten photonic crystal structure reveals the precise uniform spacing of cavities formed in the material, which are tuned to specific wavelengths of light. Image courtesy of Y.X. Yeng et al.

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