An international team of researchers, including specialists from St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk, has developed a unique glowing crystal that could become the basis for quantum chips, next-generation networks, and medical lasers.
The development is based on a metal-organic framework based on erbium and trimesic acid. The crystal is capable of converting invisible light into visible light due to the special non-centrosymmetric structure of atoms, which allows for efficient mixing of light waves.
In the experiment, an infrared laser (invisible to the eye) was directed at a 50-micron crystal, and a whole spectrum of colors was obtained at the output — from violet to dark red. This property may find application in quantum computers, detectors, and laser surgery.
The work involved employees of ITMO, South Ural State University, as well as their colleagues from France and Uzbekistan. The results are published in the journal "Reviews on Lasers and Photonics."