The repulsive side of light

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Devill

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Yale University scientists have discovered a "repulsive" light force that can be used to control nanoscale components, meaning that future nanodevices might be manipulated by light rather than electricity.

The same team had previously discovered an "attractive" force of light and showed how it could be manipulated to move components in tiny electromechanical systems. Researchers had theorized the existence of both the attractive and repulsive forces since 2005, but the latter had remained unproven until now. The team, led by Yale's Hong Tang, has reported its findings in Nature Photonics.

The forces that Tang's team discovered are separate from the force created by light's radiation pressure, which pushes against an object as light shines on it. Instead, they push out or pull in sideways from the direction the light travels.

"This completes the picture," Tang said. "We've shown that this is indeed a bipolar light force with both an attractive and repulsive component." Using both forces means researchers can now have complete control over components in both directions. "We've demonstrated that these are tunable forces we can engineer," Tang added.
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More here: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20090613234211data_trunc_sys.shtml

Wow:eek: This could have 101 practicle uses!

*Lightsabers are one of them :D
 
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