A quantum radio receiver will pick up the weakest signals. Free Technical Library News

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Quantum radio receiver will pick up the weakest signals

24.03.2019

Weak radio signals aren't just a problem for people trying to tune in to their favorite radio station, it affects magnetic resonance imaging technologies used in medicine, radio telescopes peering into the depths of the universe, and more. In all such cases, it is impossible, after suffering for some time, to tune in to another radio station, as in the first option, therefore, special amplifiers are used to amplify weak signals, the capabilities of which are limited by the magnitude of their own noise and which amplify these noises as well as a useful signal. But recently, researchers at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, have created a new type of radio receiver that uses the laws of quantum mechanics. In addition to the practical application of this receiver to receive the weakest signals, the principles used in it can shed light on the interactions between quantum mechanics and gravitational forces.

One of the tenets of quantum mechanics used in the new receiver is that energy can be transferred in tiny fixed "doses" called quanta. "Imagine that you are swinging a child on a swing," says Mario Gely, lead researcher, "From the point of view of classical physics, if I want to give the child more speed and swing amplitude, I will have to give them a push that Quantum mechanics says something else - I can only increase the child's energy by one "quantum step" at a time, transferring energy to him in the amount of half a quantum or another fractional part is fundamentally impossible.

In real life, these quantum "doses" of energy are so small that they will not have any tangible effect on a child on a swing. And until recently, such a statement was considered true in relation to radio waves. However, a new receiver can "feel" these tiny particles of energy in radio frequency signals, allowing it to receive radio waves at the quantum level.

The new receiver exhibits some unusual effects related to quantum mechanics and concepts such as mass and gravity. The theory of quantum magnetism was developed almost 100 years ago, but physicists are still puzzled by the problem of combining quantum mechanics and the concept of gravity.

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Water is a source of terahertz radiation 25.09.2017

It is known that water intensely absorbs electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range, which is why for a long time it was considered unlikely that liquid water could act as a source of terahertz waves. However, an international team of scientists has demonstrated that a thin layer of water, no more than 200 micrometers thick, irradiated with ultrashort pulses of laser light, is capable of emitting terahertz electromagnetic radiation. And, such a source of terahertz waves can be used in the future in wireless communication technologies, industrial quality control and shooting with high resolution and the ability to penetrate deep into the object being filmed.

In their experiments, the scientists focused the light of a femtosecond laser, a laser whose pulse duration is measured in femtoseconds (10^-12 seconds), on the surface of a thin layer of water. The energy of this pulse leads to the creation of a plasma cloud, consisting of ions and free electrons, at the beam focusing point. Some of the energy of the laser pulse is spent on additional excitation of ions and electrons, which begin to emit waves in the terahertz range.

Further studies have shown that terahertz radiation obtained using water has some features in relation to radiation obtained using other methods. In the case of water, an increase in the duration of the laser pulse leads to an increase in the number and energy of terahertz waves, while other methods require a decrease in the duration and increase in the energy of the pulse to obtain the same effect. Secondly, the energy and amount of terahertz radiation depends on the polarization of the light and the angle of incidence of the laser light beam on the surface of the water film.

The results obtained by scientists cannot yet be explained from the point of view of physical laws and mechanisms known to scientists involved in the processes of formation of terahertz radiation. Therefore, it is still very early to talk about the possibility of any practical application of water as a source of radiation. Scientists hope that further research into the interactions between laser light and water will lead to an understanding of the ongoing processes, on the basis of which it will be possible to develop new terahertz technologies.

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