#LunchtimeTalkTuesdays 2012 Kavli Lectureship in Nanoscience Sir John B. Pendry, Imperial College London Emphasizing the Negative Abstract: Nanoscience presents optics with a problem: We cannot see objects smaller than the wavelength using conventional optics. However, metals have an unusual property that allows us to get around this problem. When the electric field of a light beam pushes in one direction, the electrons in the metal move in the opposite direction giving a negative value to the permittivity. This gives rise to the phenomenon of surface plasmons; excitations on the metal surface that can be excited by light. This talk discussed how light can be focused into length scales much smaller than the wavelength and explore the ultimate limits imposed by the metal. It turns out that a beam of light can be concentrated into less than a nanometer leading to intense interactions between the energy of the light and individual atoms and molecules. See more talks FREE at mrs.org/on-demand. Log in with your MRS username and password, or just create a new account for free.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:30:15 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015