Science
Related: About this forumScientists Can Now Inkjet-Print Lasers
Jamie Condliffe
Scientists have developed a technique that uses an inkjet printer to make laserswhich could lead to a future filled with cheap laser-driven displays and smart surfaces.
A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge has used liquid crystals in place of ink in order to print tiny dots onto a specially coated surface. Once everything dries, the dots become lasers.
So how the hell does that work? Well, the researchers already knew that liquid crystalsthe same ones that are used in the screen you're probably reading this oncan be used to make lasers, but only if the crystals are forced to align properly. Usually, that means pouring the liquid crystal between two glass sheets, coated in molecules that force the crystals to align.
Instead, the Cambridge researchers have used inkjet printers to carefully deposit the same crystals on a surface coated with a polymer solution similar to PVA glue. Incredibly, that's enough to align the crystals in the same way as previous approaches. The finding is published in Soft Matter.
more
http://gizmodo.com/5945209/scientists-can-now-inkjet+print-lasers
Xipe Totec
(43,892 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)I have to go and think this over. Does this mean at some point when a spouse is upset with the other for letting the printer run out of ink, the offending spouse can be liquidated the second the liquid crystals are refilled?
And are lithium crystals involved?