{"id":15664,"date":"2021-11-12T13:55:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T13:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=15664"},"modified":"2021-11-12T13:55:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T13:55:05","slug":"development-novel-resonator-aid-nanoparticle-detection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/development-novel-resonator-aid-nanoparticle-detection\/15664\/","title":{"rendered":"Development of a novel resonator to aid nanoparticle detection"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nanoparticles are ubiquitous in the environment around us: viruses in ambient air, proteins in the body, as building blocks of new materials for electronics, or in surface coatings.<\/p>\n
However, we currently face difficulties with visualising these tiny particles. They are so tiny that they can hardly be seen under a conventional optical microscope.<\/p>\n
While traditional microscopes \u2013 with the assistance of light \u2013 are capable of producing in-depth images of small structures or objects, using these methods to study nanoparticles poses a challenge. Nanoparticles are so tiny that they can barely absorb or scatter light; thus, it has not been possible to study them proficiently with the use of a microscope.<\/p>\n
Now, a novel technique utilising optical resonators to enhance the interaction between light and nanoparticles has been developed by Dr Larissa Kohler, a physicist from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology<\/a> (KIT).<\/p>\n This sensor is not only proficient at nanoparticle detection, but also determines their condition and tracks their movements in space.<\/p>\n The findings of this groundbreaking study have been published in Nature Communications<\/em>.<\/p>\n The optical resonators capture light in the smallest space by reflecting it thousands of times between two mirrors.<\/p>\n Using this method, when a nanoparticle is located in the captured light field, it interacts thousands of times with the light such that the change in light intensity can be measured.<\/p>\n \u201cThe light field has various intensities at different points in space. This allows conclusions to be drawn with respect to the position of the nanoparticle in the three-dimensional space,\u201d said Dr Larissa Kohler from KIT\u2019s Physikalisches Institut.<\/p>\nNew method enhances nanoparticle detection<\/h3>\n