Typical 21st century technology was discovered in Roman glass 2000 years ago

Researchers found photonic crystals in Roman glass in the first century, a technology that has many applications today.

A study was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (With people) was carried out by researchers from Tufts University. In it, experts report on the discovery Photonic crystalsArranged arrangements of atoms that filter and reflect light in very specific ways, in Roman glass in the first century.

This result is of paramount importance because it provides a kind of… Technology with multiple applications today. This is correct, Photonic crystals They can be used to provide waveguides for very fast optical communications in and through computers Internetas stated in A launch.

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The study’s authors came across this by chance when they were visiting Cultural Heritage Technology Center of the Italian Institute of Technology (it). There they met A glass Recovered near the old city Aquileia, Italy. This piece caught their attention because of its unique brilliance.

How were the structures formed?

The team that led this study glasswhich after chemical analyzes were dated between First century BC and first century ADIt originates in sand EgyptThey discovered that they were facing natural nanofabrication Photonic crystals.

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“It’s really amazing that you can have a glass that’s been sitting in the mud for two thousand years, and you end up with something that is a typical example of a nanophotonic component,” he said in his report. launch Fiorenzo Ominito, a professor of engineering at Tufts University and co-author of the study.

According to those conducting the study, these are: Structures It must have been formed through a mechanism that took centuries of great patience. It would be something similar to a Corrosion and rebuilding process.

“The surrounding mud and rain determined the diffusion of minerals and periodic erosion of silica in the glass. Meanwhile, 100-nanometer-thick layers combining silica and metals were also assembled in cycles. “The result is an incredibly ordered arrangement of hundreds of layers of crystalline material.”

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