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Related Concept Videos

Radiation Pressure: Problem Solving01:09

Radiation Pressure: Problem Solving

The radiation pressure applied by an electromagnetic wave on a perfectly absorbing surface equals the energy density of the wave. The wave's momentum also gets transferred to the surface when an electromagnetic wave is entirely absorbed by it. The rate at which momentum is transmitted to an absorbing surface perpendicular to the propagation direction equals the force on the surface.
The average value of the rate of momentum transfer divided by the absorbing area represents the average force per...
Momentum And Radiation Pressure01:20

Momentum And Radiation Pressure

An object absorbing an electromagnetic wave would experience a force in the direction of propagation of the wave. This force occurs because electromagnetic waves contain and transport momentum. The force accounts for the wave's radiation pressure exerted on the object. Maxwell's prediction was confirmed in 1903 by Nichols and Hull by precisely measuring radiation pressures with a torsion balance. The measuring instrument had mirrors suspended from a fiber kept inside a glass container. Nichols...
Biological Effects of Radiation02:59

Biological Effects of Radiation

All radioactive nuclides emit high-energy particles or electromagnetic waves. When this radiation encounters living cells, it can cause heating, break chemical bonds, or ionize molecules. The most serious biological damage results when these radioactive emissions fragment or ionize molecules. For example, α and β particles emitted from nuclear decay reactions possess much higher energies than ordinary chemical bond energies. When these particles strike and penetrate matter, they produce ions...
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Nuclear Fuels
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The most common types of radioactivity are α decay, β decay, γ decay, neutron emission, and electron capture.
Alpha (α) decay is the emission of an α particle from the nucleus. For example, polonium-210 undergoes α decay:
Radiation: Applications01:17

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The average temperature of Earth is the subject of much current discussion. Earth is in radiative contact with both the Sun and dark space; it receives almost all its energy from the radiation of the Sun and reflects some of it into outer space. Dark space is very cold, about 3 K, so Earth radiates energy into it. For instance, heat transfer occurs from soil and grasses, the rate of which can be so rapid that frost can occur on clear summer evenings, even in warm latitudes.
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Irradiator Commissioning and Dosimetry for Assessment of LQ α and β Parameters, Radiation Dosing Schema, and in vivo Dose Deposition
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Negative radiation pressure on gain medium structures.

Amit Mizrahi1, Yeshaiahu Fainman

  • 1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego,9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0407, USA. amitmiz@ece.ucsd.edu

Optics Letters
|October 23, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Light amplification can create negative radiation pressure, pulling nanoscale objects toward a light source. This phenomenon, observed in gain media, reverses typical optical forces.

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Area of Science:

  • Optics and Photonics
  • Nanotechnology
  • Acoustic Metamaterials

Background:

  • Radiation pressure typically pushes objects away from a light source.
  • Gain media amplify light, a property not usually associated with optical forces.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate and analyze negative radiation pressure in gain medium structures.
  • To investigate the conditions under which light amplification can reverse optical forces.

Main Methods:

  • Analytical derivation of the threshold gain for radiation pressure reversal.
  • Theoretical analysis applied to Rayleigh spheres, thin cylinders, and thin slabs.
  • Consideration of refractive index matching to eliminate scattering forces.

Main Results:

  • Negative radiation pressure demonstrated on gain medium structures.
  • Light amplification can cause nanoscale bodies to be pulled toward a light source.
  • Threshold gain for force reversal derived analytically and shown to vanish with refractive index matching.

Conclusions:

  • Gain medium structures can exhibit negative radiation pressure, enabling light-induced attraction.
  • The phenomenon is applicable to both optically large and deep subwavelength structures.
  • Refractive index matching offers a method to control and enhance this light-matter interaction.