European Group Develops Plasmonics

The Centre Suisse d’Électronique et de Microtechnique SA of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is leading the European project PLEAS, Plasmon Enhanced Photonics, which aims to move plasmonics beyond the academic arena to a key position in the development of the European photonics industry. Funded by the European Union, the € 2.8 million initiative expects to achieve the goal by controlling light in metals at the nanoscale level. The technology will have an impact on photodectors in applications ranging from portable phones to security systems and on greenhouse emissions by increasing the energy efficiency of LEDs.

The consortium includes Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH, a specialist in LED design and manufacturing based in Regensburg, Germany, and Sagem Défense Sécurité of Paris, offering expertise in vision-based security and in plasmon application and theory.

Excelitas Technologies Corp. - X-Cite Vitae MR 11/24

Published: March 2007

Glossary

nano: An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
photonics: The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...