Nanoscale glass
structures that filter or manipulate light.
(February 19, 2016) Researchers at RMIT University and the
University of Adelaide have joined forces to create a stretchable nano-scale
device to manipulate light.
The device manipulates light to such an extent that it can
filter specific colours while still being transparent and could be used in the
future to make smart contact lenses.
Using the technology, high-tech lenses could one day filter
harmful optical radiation without interfering with vision – or in a more
advanced version, transmit data and gather live vital information or even show
information like a head-up display.
The light manipulation relies on creating tiny artificial
crystals termed “dielectric resonators”,
which are a fraction of the wavelength of light – 100-200 nanometers, or over
500 times thinner than a human hair.
The research combined the University of Adelaide
researchers’ expertise in interaction of light with artificial materials with
the materials science and nanofabrication expertise at RMIT University.
Dr Withawat Withayachumnankul, from the University of
Adelaide’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: “Manipulation
of light using these artificial crystals uses precise engineering.