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All-Optical Switch Uses a Single Quantum Dot

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COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 8, 2012 — An all-optical switch created using a quantum dot placed inside a resonant cavity can switch a beam of light from one direction to another in 120 ps with very little power. Developed at the Joint Quantum Institute, it consists of a nanosize sandwich of arsenic and indium. It is so tiny that it can emit only discrete wavelengths, as if it were an atom. It was placed inside a photonic crystal that had been bored with several tiny holes, enabling light to pass only through the crystal, for a narrow range of wavelengths. When light traveled through the waveguide adjacent to the...Read full article

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    Published: May 2012
    Glossary
    nano
    An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
    photonics
    The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
    quantum dots
    A quantum dot is a nanoscale semiconductor structure, typically composed of materials like cadmium selenide or indium arsenide, that exhibits unique quantum mechanical properties. These properties arise from the confinement of electrons within the dot, leading to discrete energy levels, or "quantization" of energy, similar to the behavior of individual atoms or molecules. Quantum dots have a size on the order of a few nanometers and can emit or absorb photons (light) with precise wavelengths,...
    AmericasJapanJoint Quantum InstituteJQIMarylandnanooptical switchOpticsphotonic crystalphotonicsprobe beamquantum dotsRanojoy BoseResearch & Technologyresonant cavitysignal router

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