Using Jumbo-Sized Atoms And Tiny Lasers, Researchers Have Created 'Atomic Television'

The 'atomic television' uses lasers and atom clouds to carry a 480i resolution video signal.

It won't be part of your home entertainment setup in the near future.

The key to the technology is a glass container of rubidium atoms that are excited by two colors of laser beams and cause the electrons to travel further out from the nucleus.

It also makes the atoms bigger and more stretched out, so they can be used as a TV signal receiver. A similar trick was done by the researchers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US has figured out how to stream and receive videos.

We used a video game to detect it with the atoms. The output is fed into the television.

A radio signal is used to prepare the atom cloud. It is measured and used as a reference point. A horn antenna is used to transmit the video feed.

By analyzing one of the laser beams as it passes through the atoms, the scientists extract the video signal and convert it into a format that can be used on a screen. A video camera and a video game console were used to test the setup.

The team had to get the correct size of the laser beams for the system to work. The amount of time the laser light spends interacting with the atoms affects the bandwidth of the video stream.

The researchers say that the beam size affects the average time the atoms stay in the interaction volume.

The team found that small beam diameters less than 100 micrometers were the ideal size for both lasers, as they were able to broadcast color and respond quickly. They were able to get high data rates.

In the future, researchers think these rates could be improved even more. The resolution of 480i looks fuzzy, but it can be refined now that the technology is in place.

The atomic receiver is small, but should be able to be scaled down in the future. These devices are less affected by noise and could be used in a variety of ways.

The same principles could be used with glass, commercially available atoms, and standard fibers. Recalibrating the lasers would allow the receiver to receive signals quickly.

Amita Deb, who wasn't involved in the study, told New Scientist that you don't have to change any electronics components.

The research has appeared in a journal.