Researchers from North Carolina State University have come
up with a low-cost way to enhance a polymer called MEH-PPV’s ability to confine
light, advancing efforts to use the material to convert electricity into laser
light for use in photonic devices.
“Think of a garden hose. If it has holes in it, water
springs out through a million tiny leaks. But if you can eliminate those leaks,
you confine the water in the hose and improve the water pressure. We’ve plugged
the holes that were allowing light to leak out of the MEH-PPV,” says Dr. Lewis
Reynolds, a teaching associate professor of materials science and engineering
at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research.