Scientists of the RKhTU them.
DI.
Mendeleev "grew" nonlinear optical crystals in glass.
Such crystals allow you to control the properties of light passing through them and can be used to create ultra-high-performance optical computers.
This is reported in the journal Crystals.
As Mendeleevs explained, they first synthesized glass, which consists of germanium and lead oxides.
Then, to obtain crystals with the specified parameters, the researchers processed such glasses with intense laser pulses.
When heated by a laser, glass (which initially does not belong to crystalline materials) melted, and upon subsequent cooling it crystallized.
The crystals obtained, scientists say, are called nonlinear optical.
These are seemingly unremarkable transparent materials that have a special symmetry of the structure and allow you to control the properties of light passing through them, including converting invisible infrared radiation into visible one.
“We are developing new methods for managing the structure of materials and, in fact, we are doing a kind of alchemy.
For example, in this work, to form nonlinear-optical crystals of micron size, we used glass, which was irradiated with highly focused pulsed laser radiation with carefully selected parameters, ”says the main author of the work, associate professor of the Department of Chemical Technology of Glass and Sitalls of the Russian Chemical Technology University Sergey Lotarev.
Such crystals have been used in laser technology for a long time, Sergey Lotarev and his colleagues explain.
However, for applications in the field of photonic computing, it was necessary to reduce optical elements to a micron size and integrate them together to create optical microchips.
This was done by scientists who "grew" crystals directly in glass.
“We use the direct laser recording method: using a powerful femtosecond laser, we heat the glass to high temperatures, but we do it very carefully - the heating zone is limited to only a few microns.
As a result, with the help of such gentle heating, it is possible to crystallize the given microvolumes of glass and create extended “tracks” with an almost monocrystalline structure, possessing all the properties of a nonlinear optical crystal, ”explained Sergey Lotarev.
This is not the first work for the RKTU team to create nonlinear optical crystals.
Previously, scientists managed to "grow" crystals of lanthanum borogermanate in glass, with which it is possible to change the wavelength of laser radiation.
Researchers are currently investigating various possibilities for crystallizing glass with a laser to create other materials with a given microstructure.
The successful combination of the properties of crystals and glass in one material will make it possible to use it to create an optical computer, the researchers are sure.
According to Sergei Lotarev, in the future, microscopic nonlinear optical crystals can function as an integrated electro-optical modulator, an element of the architecture of a super-high-performance optical computer.