Last time, I showed you how you could construct a photon, a light particle, in a configuration of mirrors called a ring cavity. This time I’ll show you that sometimes, you can’t make just one particle—they only come in pairs. And sometimes, the notion of a particle doesn’t make any sense at all. (This post relies heavily on last week’s post, so if you haven’t read that, I recommend you do so.) Disclaimer: What I’m about to describe is only the simplest case, and I make simplifications for the sake of exposition. It is possible to capture and manipulate
lasers
Physics / Quantum Mechanics / Science And Math
What’s in a Particle?
If you’ve read or heard anything about quantum mechanics, you’ve heard the phrase “particle-wave duality.” The common wisdom is that this means that particles sometimes behave like waves and sometimes behave like particles. And although this is right, it’s a bit misleading. The truth is: Everything is always a wave. It’s just that waves can be made to behave like particles. To see what I mean, let’s actually show how one can make a set of waves behave like a particle. Specifically, let’s show how a set of light waves can be made to behave like a photon, a light particle.
Condensed Matter / optics / Physics / etc.
The Graphene Electro-Optic Modulator
Say we have a beam of light—maybe we made it with a laser. We’d like be able to change the intensity of the beam so that we can alternately brighten and dim it. Moreover, we’d like to be able to do so quickly. Physically blocking and unblocking the beam just isn’t fast enough. So what do we do? The solution is to make an electric switch so we can change how the light behaves via electrical signals. This is an electro-optic modulator (EOM). Two weeks ago, I introduced graphene to you all. And last week, I described some of
Condensed Matter / optics / Physics / etc.
Graphene and Me: My Brush with the Wonder Material
Graphene, a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, has made waves in science and technology circles. Last week, I gave a brief overview of the history of the stuff and why it’s special. This week, I’d like to continue the story by talking about applications. Unfortunately for us—and fortunately for society as a whole—graphene has spawned so many new technologies that it’s impossible for me to discuss them all. So instead, I thought I’d talk a single application that has personal value to me. As an undergraduate student, I spent two years in a laser lab studying graphene’s applications
optics / Physics / Quantum Mechanics / etc.
Why The Sky is Blue: Lord Rayleigh, Sir Raman, and Scattering
The Sky is the Daily Bread of the Eyes ~Ralph Waldo Emerson At some point in his or her life, almost every child on Earth asks, “Why is the sky blue?” The question is so prevalent that, to me, it has come to represent the wonder that the world holds for a a child. Adults don’t ask such questions… at least, not unless they’re scientists. Part 1: John Tyndall In 1859, physicist John Tyndall thought he’d found the answer to the sky’s color. His studies of infrared radiation required him to use containers of completely pure air. He
optics / Physics / Quantum Mechanics / etc.
How Things Work: Lasers
You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frikkin laser beams attached to their heads! ~Dr. Evil Always look on the bright side …unless you’re holding a laser pointing device. ~Unknown The laser is, without a doubt, one of the most ubiquitous, archetypal technologies of modern times. And it is one of the most direct applications of quantum mechanics. But how do lasers work? It All Starts In The Atom The story starts deep within the atom. I’ve previously discuss the fact that particles are waves and that this forces electrons to have