Kirchhoff's Current Law Broken:
Link: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224800009
Best regards,
/Clay
Link: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224800009
Best regards,
/Clay
But i would like to see some more info.. Patent search anyone? Im sure it will be a while. But it will contain the math.The transistor laser has been known for about six years, but its inventors only recently crafted a solution for its miss-match with traditional circuit-theory. In particular, shortly after Georg Ohm defined the first principle of circuit theory—Ohm's Law—Gustav Kirchhoff described the still-universally-taught conservation-of-charge principle, called Kirchhoff's Current Law (circa 1845): "At any junction in an electrical circuit, the sum of currents flowing into that node is equal to the sum of currents flowing out of that node." But with a transistor laser some of the current goes to creating the laser beam—mixing charge conservation with energy conservation.
Agreed. The laser transistor is an interesting thing. Cool. great.Just ignore the claim for now.
I'm no quantum physics expert, but electrons are fundamental particles and can't just be turned into photons. Besides, that would leave the whole apparatus positively charged. If they are just flowing through some kind of nano laser cavity then they come out the other side and no laws are broken.
I suspect this might be the article writer getting carried away.
Here is a link to the operation of a transistor laser - http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-transistor-laser/3Kirchhoff's current law, described by Gustav Kirchhoff in 1845, states charge input at a node is equal to the charge output. In other words, all the electrical energy going in must go out again. On a basic bipolar transistor, with ports for electrical input and output, the law applies straightforwardly. The transistor laser adds a third port for optical output, emitting light.
So we are left to imagine that fewer electrons come out than go in to the device.The base current density of 10 000 A/cm2 is 10 or 100 times as dense as that needed for a state-of-the-art high-speed laser, which pulses on and off at perhaps 10 GHz, or with difficulty to over 20 GHz, at a current density of under 1000 A/cm2. Because Feng's HBT is made of direct-gap III–V materials, we speculated that at these normally destructive current densities, light was probably being generated instead of heat. This light would broadcast and remove the energy lost in recombination and not generate excessive heat.
That idea turned out to be on target. In the summer of 2003, we found infrared light that shot out in all directions. Our HBT is both an electrical and an optical signal source driven by the base current. We call it a three-port device: the emitter is grounded with one input being the base, the reverse-biased collector outputs an amplified electrical signal, and the base itself outputs an optical signal when electrons and holes recombine there.
Key phrase highlighted. If it is an amplifier, and there is no light going in, then there will be no light going out. I suspect you're right, but it is a mistake to assume a laser is always a producer of light.L.A.S.E.R. - Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Gotta be light out, or it becomes a maser. Substitute "microwave" for "light".
From the Physorg article -
Here is a link to the operation of a transistor laser - http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-transistor-laser/3
The IEEE Spectrum article explains part of the function here - So we are left to imagine that fewer electrons come out than go in to the device.
Key phrase highlighted. If it is an amplifier, and there is no light going in, then there will be no light going out. I suspect you're right, but it is a mistake to assume a laser is always a producer of light.
Erbium Doped fibers are true laser amps used in communications, they take a weak optical signal (laser beam) and amplify it 30DB or more. The pumping source is infrared lasers.