William Atkins
Friday, 26 February 2010 02:02
Science -
Biology
Page 1 of 2
According to recent studies in 3D-display technology, Singapore researchers have developed a simple method to control the growth of NaYF4 nanocrystals.
Sodium yttrium fluoride (NaYF
4) nanocrystals absorb near-infrared (near-IR) light—a type of electromagnetic radiation—and emit visible light—another type of electromagnetic radiation.
And, these nanocrystals are key to this newly discovered process for creating a three-dimensional (3D) display.
A nanocrystal is considered any single-crystalline material with at least one dimension that is less than 100 nanometers in size, where one nanometer is equal to one-billionth of a meter.
The Singapore researchers who developed this simple process used these NaYF
4 nanocrystals to create a three-dimensional (3D) display.
They accomplish this goal by scattering the nanocrystals in a transparent silicon display and then subjecting them to beams from an infrared laser.
For this new process to work, lanthanide ions is used in a procedure called “lanthanide doping.”
Lanthanide is the term used for any of a series of 14 metallic elements in the periodic table from lanthanium (La), cerium (Ce), to ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu) (atomic numbers from 58, 59 to 70, 71, respectively).
Page two continues with additional information, along with a resulting 3D image made from this new process.
