UCL hopes nano-level magneto-optics holds the key to quantum data storage
University College London’s London Centre for Nanotechnology is looking into the magneto-optical properties of materials including organometallic films and rare-earth fluoride crystals. The aim is to find a means of storing quantum information, which would be an essential part of creating a quantum computer. Certain materials cause the polarization properties of light to change. The Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect on reflected light and the Faraday effect on transmitted light have been used in information storage devices such as magneto-optical disks. Nanotech opens the possibility of exploiting these effects in unpaired electronic spins.
This nanotechnology buzz is really one that keeps you fascinated, and this recent development is no exception. Promising and exciting, yes, but before I get carried away, I want to know: what other innovations have they looked into with regards to developing nanotech’s potential in other fields?
Nanowerk (http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4662.php) has highlighted how nanotech can help in water treatment; something that will become increasingly important when, as Nanowerk puts it,
“freshwater could become the oil of the 21st century – scarce, expensive and fought over.”
Nanotech packs a promising punch for diversified fields in science and technology, as this article has clearly shown. But what about the risks involved in the rapid and, should I say, rabid development of nanotechnology? Research into this for me is of equal importance to its potential.