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posted by martyb on Wednesday September 27 2017, @04:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the bright-idea dept.

https://www.fau.eu/2017/09/25/news/research/the-fastest-light-driven-current-source/

Controlling electronic current is essential to modern electronics, as data and signals are transferred by streams of electrons which are controlled at high speed. Demands on transmission speeds are also increasing as technology develops. Scientists from the Chair of Laser Physics and the Chair of Applied Physics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have succeeded in switching on a current with a desired direction in graphene using a single laser pulse within a femtosecond ­­ – a femtosecond corresponds to the millionth part of a billionth of a second. This is more than a thousand times faster compared to the most efficient transistors today.

[...] For their experiments, the scientists fired extremely short laser pulses with specially engineered waveforms onto graphene. When these light waves hit the graphene, the electrons inside were hurled in one direction, like a whiplash. 'Under intense optical fields, a current was generated within a fraction of an optical cycle – a half femtosecond. It was surprising that despite these enormous forces, quantum mechanics still plays a key role,' explains Dr. Takuya Higuchi from the Chair of Laser Physics, the first author of the publication.

Light-field-driven currents in graphene (DOI: 10.1038/nature23900) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @04:56PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @04:56PM (#573880)

    It was surprising that despite these enormous forces, quantum mechanics still plays a key role

    Why is it surprising? Quantum mechanics govern all aspects of physicality, big or very small. Why wouldn't they be involved in this case, too?

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:28PM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:28PM (#573906) Journal

    Why is it surprising? Quantum mechanics govern all aspects of physicality, big or very small.

    Or so they like you to think.
    In reality, it is the lizard people that controls the physicality and (for now) the Illuminati the ones that control your mind.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @06:02PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @06:02PM (#573923)

      Can you please keep your alt-right "lizard people" and "Illuminati" drivel contained to Slashdot?

      We're trying to have an intelligent discussion here about cutting-edge microprocessor technologies. You're welcome to contribute something useful if you're capable of doing so, but otherwise please don't gum up this place with alt-right nonsense.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 27 2017, @06:16PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 27 2017, @06:16PM (#573934) Journal

        ...but otherwise please don't gum up this place with alt-right nonsense.

        (Perhaps some innocent fresh-meat got lost from the green-site into here?
        Just in case... don't scare him, boys. Not yet.

        trollish grin)

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:25PM

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:25PM (#573969) Journal

        c0lo, if I'm reading him(?) right, is being ironic. As far as I know there's only one person who seems to seriously think there are actual lizard people, and she's...nutty. For a lot of reasons.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:41PM (#573979)

        This site already has plenty of alt-right nonsense and trolls, c0l0's is pretty tame by the daily standards here.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @11:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @11:42PM (#574098)
    I suppose that since they had such large forces and large objects involved, they were expecting a classical approximation to work reasonably well. Apparently not, and they had to do the full quantum treatment.