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Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light
Science News from research organizations 1 . 2 . Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light . Date: December 2, 2021 Source: University of Cambridge Summary: By trapping light into tiny crevices of gold, researchers have coaxed molecules to convert invisible infrared into visible light, creating new low-cost detectors for sensing. Share: FULL STORY Detecting light beyond the visible red range of our eyes is hard to do, because infrared light carries so little energy compared to ambient heat at room temperature. This obscures infrared light unless specialised detectors are chilled to very low temperatures, which is both expensive and energy-intensive. advertisement Now researchers led by the University of Cambridge have demonstrated a new concept in detecting infrared light, showing how to convert it into visible light, which is easily detected. In collaboration with colleagues from the UK, Spain and Belgium, the team used a single layer of molecules to absorb the mid-infrared light inside their vibrating chemical bonds. These shaking molecules can donate their energy to visible light that they encounter, 'upconverting' it to emissions closer to the blue end of the spectrum, which can then be detected by modern visible-light cameras. The results, reported in the journal Science , open up new low-cost ways to sense contaminants, track cancers, check gas mixtures, and remotely sense the outer universe. The challenge faced by the researchers was to make sure the quaking molecules met the visible light quickly enough. "This meant we had to trap light really tightly around the molecules, by squeezing it into crevices surrounded by gold," said first author Angelos Xomalis from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory. The researchers devised a way to sandwich single molecular layers between a mirror and tiny chunks of gold, only possible with 'meta-materials' that can twist and squeeze light into volumes a billion times smaller than a human hair. "Trapping these different colours of light at the same time was hard, but we wanted to find a way that wouldn't be expensive and could easily produce practical devices," said co-author Dr Rohit Chikkaraddy from the Cavendish Laboratory, who devised the experiments based on his simulations of light in these building blocks. "It's like listening to slow-rippling earthquake waves by colliding them with a violin string to get a high whistle that's easy to hear, and without breaking the violin," said Professor Jeremy Baumberg of the NanoPhotonics Centre at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, who led the research. The researchers emphasise that while it is early days, there are many ways to optimise the performance of these inexpensive molecular detectors, which then can access rich information in this window of the spectrum. From astronomical observations of galactic structures to sensing human hormones or early signs of invasive cancers, many technologies can benefit from this new detector advance. The research was conducted by a team from the University of Cambridge, KU Leuven, University College London (UCL), the Faraday Institution, and Universitat Politècnica de València. The research is funded as part of a UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) investment in the Cambridge NanoPhotonics Centre, as well as the European Research Council (ERC), Trinity College Cambridge and KU Leuven. Story Source: Materials provided by University of Cambridge . The original text of this story is licensed under a Creative Commons License . Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference : Angelos Xomalis, Xuezhi Zheng, Rohit Chikkaraddy, Zsuzsanna Koczor-Benda, Ermanno Miele, Edina Rosta, Guy A. E. Vandenbosch, Alejandro Martínez, Jeremy J. Baumberg. Detecting mid-infrared light by molecular frequency upconversion in dual-wavelength nanoantennas . Science , 2021; 374 (6572): 1268 DOI: 10.1126/science.abk2593 . Cite This Page : MLA . APA . Chicago . University of Cambridge. "Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 December 2021. . University of Cambridge. (2021, December 2). Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light. ScienceDaily . Retrieved December 2, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202141433.htm University of Cambridge. "Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202141433.htm (accessed December 2, 2021). 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