Max Planck Scientists strike new paths in nanoanalysis and data storage with infrared light
Scientists of the Nano-Photonics Group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have developed a new infrared-optical nanotechnology based on the excitation of lattice vibrations in polar crystals (phonons). The technology, called "phonon photonics", opens up entirely new applications of infrared light: non-destructive chemical and structural analysis of crystals at a resolution better than 1/10000 mm, infrared data storage providing storage densities better than DVD, nanoscopic infrared-sensors or waveguides and switches for the development of future infrared-optical supercomputers. The physicists in Martinsried present their initial studies on silicon carbide crystals in the latest issue of NATURE MATERIALS (Nature Materials, September 2004, published online 1 August 2004).