When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Researchers have come up with a new polymer-based technology that could make computers and the Internet a whole lot faster. Like a hundred times faster.
Features Editor Barry Copping at Plastics and Rubbers Weekly reported that the team of Koby Scheuer of the Tel Aviv University’s School of Electrical Engineering has created a novel optical filter. Scheuer’s team are experts in optical lasers.
The filter is made by embedding nanometer-sized grooves in a plastic sheet. When placed in fiber-optic cable switches, the filters could make devices like gyros of planes, telephones, and cable TV and Internet interfaces smaller and more flexible. They will also be packed with more power.
The researchers say the new devices, described in the journal Optics Express, can perform at breakneck speeds, with unsurpassed quality, and at very low cost. They could be commonplace in 10 years time.
The polymer switches would take the place of semiconductor devices. Semiconductor devices are difficult to make and expensive. Semiconductors are grown on crystals in sterile laboratories and require special ovens for processing. The manufacturing procedures could take days to months to complete. The materials are also are delicate and stiff.
However, Copping writes:
By contrast, the material for the polymer switches comes in a user-friendly liquid solution. Using a method called ‘stamping,’ almost any laboratory can make optical devices using the silicon rubber mould developed at Tel Aviv, says Scheuer. The silicon rubber mould is scored with nano-sized grooves, invisible to the naked eye. A polymer solution is poured over the mould to replicate the groove configuration in minutes.
Copping quotes Scheuer as saying that the biggest hurdle in getting these polymer filters into widespread use is in “convincing the communications industry that polymers are stable materials.”
Comments
Post a Comment