CHICAGO, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Research into the way gold shines when it is reduced to nanoscale may lead to new optical chips for computers or switches and routers in fiber networks.
Nanoscale is one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Materials that small exhibit entirely different properties from conventional materials.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory examined the emission of light when electrons are stimulated in gold nanorods and found that they could control the wavelength of the light emitted by the material, making it possible to use as a light source inside an optical chip.
"The light emitted is dependent on the shape of the gold nanorods," said team leader Gary Wiederrecht.
The gold nanorods are about 20 nanometers wide and range from 70 to 300 nanometers long. The rod shape determines the energy of the collective electronic excitations that radiate light.
The research, published in the December 31 Physical Review Letters, said the longer-term implications of the work include the ability to produce nanoscale light sources for faster and smaller optical devices and novel photoluminescent sensors.
