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Wednesday, 28th September 2005 (6179 views)

Engineers from Pennsylvania University have come up with a theory whereby electronics could be run on light rather than electricity.

The engineers believe that particles of gold could be used to manipulate an electric current when working on the nanoscale, reports Physorg.

In the future, optical electronics could be used in biological circuits or used to create faster computer processors.

Their research found that gold and silver nanoparticles could function like mini capacitors or inductors, depending on whether their permittivity rate was above or below zero. They were also found to act as resistors.

These are three basic elements of a circuit which when combined would allow engineers to produce fairly complex circuits, explained Nader Engheta, lead author of the research.

At present the findings are only theoretical but nevertheless they provide exciting prospects for the future.

Gold is noted for its exciting properties on the nanoscale; depending on their size, gold nanoparticles range in colour from red to purple.

 

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