Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Adamas Nanotechnologies (Raleigh, NC), the University of Luxembourg in Luxemburg, Umeå University in Sweden, and Aix Marseille University in France have found that boron-doped diamonds exhibit plasmons – waves of electrons that move when light hits them – allowing electric fields to be controlled and enhanced on a nanometer scale. Previously, boron-doped diamonds were known to conduct electricity and become superconductors, but not to have plasmonic properties. Plasmonic materials, which affect light at the nanoscale, have captivated humans for centuries. For example, the vibrant colors in medieval stained-glass windows result from metal nanoparticles embedded in the glass, and when light passes through, these nanoparticles generate plasmons that produce specific colors.
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