• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Light source discovery ‘challenges basic assumption’ of physics

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 17, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

A widely-held understanding of electromagnetic radiation has been challenged in newly published research led at the University of Strathclyde.

The study found that the normal direct correspondence between the bandwidths of the current source and emitted radiation can be broken. This was achieved by extracting narrowband radiation with high efficiency, without making the oscillation of the current narrowband.

The finding produced narrowband light sources in media where electromagnetic radiation would not normally be possible. It makes for a powerful tool for scientists that enables them to understand the intricacies of how materials, or even biological molecules, behave under different conditions, which has a major impact on people's lives through the development of new products and medical treatments.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, also involved researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), both in South Korea.

Professor Dino Jaroszynski, of Strathclyde's Department of Physics, led the study. He said: "Coherent light sources such as lasers have many uses, from communication to probing the structure of matter. The simplest source of coherent electromagnetic radiation is an oscillating electric current in an antenna. However, there are many other devices are based on these basic laws of physics, such as the free-electron laser, which produces coherent X-ray radiation, or magnetrons found in microwave ovens.

"Our study has shown that some common media with interesting optical properties can be taken advantage of if we imbed, or bury, an oscillating current source in them. Media such as plasma, semiconductors and photonic structures have a 'cut-off', where propagation of electromagnetic radiation with frequencies lower than the 'cut-off' frequency is not possible; we noticed that the radiation impedance is increased at the cut-off.

"One consequence of this is that, for a broadband current source immersed in this type of dispersive medium, the cut-off frequency 'mode' is selectively enhanced due to Ohm's law, resulting in narrow bandwidth emission. What is curious is that novel physics should still be hidden in the classical cut-off behaviour; in our research, we uncovered a hidden face of the cut-off and realised a new paradigm of narrowband light sources in media that would not usually allow electromagnetic radiation to propagate. This is a remarkably simple idea based on straightforward physics theory that seems to have been overlooked.

"This is a very exciting theoretical discovery that comes out of a very fruitful cross-continental collaboration. It shows that we should always keep an open mind and question even very basic assumptions. We hope to demonstrate this phenomenon at the Strathclyde-based Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators; there are numerous applications of electromagnetic radiation and the proposed source should have a large impact if we are able to demonstrate it experimentally."

Professor Min Sup Hur at UNIST, Republic of South Korea, who leads the work from UNIST, said: "This new discovery is scientifically interesting, because it leads us to see the phenomenon of electromagnetic radiation from a completely different viewpoint. We hope the fruitful international collaboration, which brought us to this theoretical discovery, will continue with the experimental demonstration of the idea."

Modern light sources, or, more generally, electromagnetic sources used as scientific tools require good coherency, monochromaticity, and high emission power. Coherency and narrow bandwidth – or monochromaticity – are important properties of electromagnetic radiation that allow it to be used to observe changes in the structure of materials subject to stimuli, such as a short intense laser pulse; material properties are deduced from changes that are made apparent in pump-probe studies. An analogy would be to making a movie by assembling many time lapse snapshots to animate the changes that are occurring in the material after it has been stimulated.

The main challenge is making high power sources of electromagnetic radiation monochromatic. This is often done by making the oscillating current narrowband or filtering the spectrum, which is extremely inefficient. It is complicated, and can be expensive, to reduce the bandwidth of a current source while maintaining or increasing its radiated power.

###

The Research Excellence Framework 2014, the comprehensive rating of UK universities' research, ranked the University of Strathclyde's Physics research first in the UK, with 96% of output assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Media Contact

Corporate Comms
[email protected]
44-014-154-82370

http://www.strath.ac.uk

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Tech-Enhanced Nursing Strategies Boost TB Medication Adherence

September 3, 2025

Dad’s Childhood Exposure to Passive Smoking May Impact Kids’ Lung Health for Life

September 3, 2025

Diabetes Therapy Quality of Life Tied to Mortality

September 3, 2025

XGBoost Model Identifies Precocious Puberty in Girls

September 2, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Needlestick Injury Rates in Nurses and Students in Pakistan

    296 shares
    Share 118 Tweet 74
  • Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    154 shares
    Share 62 Tweet 39
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    143 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    117 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 29

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Tech-Enhanced Nursing Strategies Boost TB Medication Adherence

Dad’s Childhood Exposure to Passive Smoking May Impact Kids’ Lung Health for Life

Diabetes Therapy Quality of Life Tied to Mortality

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.