ANCIENT ROMAN NANOTECHNOLOGY INSPIRES NEXT-GENERATION HOLOGRAMS FOR INFORMATION STORAGE (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by STANews , Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 10:29

The Lycurgus Cup, as it is known due to its depiction of a scene involving King Lycurgus of Thrace, is a 1,600-year-old jade green Roman chalice that changes colour depending on the direction of the light upon it. It baffled scientists ever since the glass chalice was acquired by the British Museum in the 1950s, as they could not work out why the cup appeared jade green when lit from the front but blood red when lit from behind.

Later research confirmed the effect was caused by interference produced by the interaction of light with metallic nanoparticles. Now the same technology used to produce the unique features of the Lycurgus cup are being used to create holograms made of tiny particles of silver that could double the amount of information that can be stored in digital optical devices, such as sensors, displays and medical imaging devices.

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the interference produced by the interaction of light with nanoparticles allows holograms to go beyond the normal limits of diffraction, or the way in which waves spread or bend when they encounter an opening or obstacle.

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