'The Photon Force Is With Us': Harnessing Light To Drive Nanomachines
Friday, November 28, 2008 - 12:28
in Physics & Chemistry
Science fiction writers have long envisioned sailing a spacecraft by the optical force of the sun's light. But, the forces of sunlight are too weak to fill even the oversized sails that have been tried. Now a team led by researchers at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science has shown that the force of light indeed can be harnessed to drive machines when the process is scaled to nano-proportions.