The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
People zoom past the Marie V. McDemmond Center for Applied Research every day, with no idea of the progress being made inside: Norfolk State University scientists are getting international attention for their part in developing the world's smallest laser.
Norfolk State, in partnership with Cornell and Purdue, has worked on the project for the past three years, and physics professor Mikhail Noginov said future applications for the "spaser," as it's called, are "incredible."
Spasers, which cannot be seen by the human eye, could produce significant medical advances by going where current technology cannot. Spasers also have possibilities in electronics, as they operate at frequencies thousands of times faster than present-day computers. The potential payoff for Norfolk State, being in the forefront, is just as strong.
"The promises are so fantastic that the government is putting millions of dollars into it," Noginov said.
The science behind the spaser is complex. Noginov says it releases light similar to lasers - which most people can relate to, since they are used in a variety of items, such as CD players and dental drills. But spasers are a different animal, a new class of device that requires terms such as "nanoparticles," "gold cores," "dye molecules" and "surface plasmons."
The name "spaser" comes from the "sp" of surface plasmons replacing the "l" in the acronym that is "laser" - light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.
Each university in the partnership did its share of research and testing, and the work is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Noginov grew up and earned his degrees in the Soviet Union before coming to the United States in 1991. He moved to Norfolk State in 1997. He and others developed the Center for Materials Research, housed in the McDemmond building at Brambleton and Park avenues.
He started working with scientists at Cornell and Purdue who had similar areas of study, and they formalized their Partnership for Research and Education in Materials in 2006. The group's goal is to expand research, create an academic pipeline for minorities and make NSU's Center for Materials Research one of the top five producers of black Ph.D. graduates.
Another mission is to raise NSU's Center for Materials Research to the level of world-leading institutions in the areas of nanoplasmonics and photonics.
"Norfolk State will become more visible as the name becomes more known," Noginov said.
Denise Watson Batts, (757) 446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com
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Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News. How much money will the taxpayers of Virginia get from the kickbacks that ODU paid to this republican thief? Give me a break!
Get real!
Address the issue. What does your comment have to do with the issue of being exclusive to one group? How would you feel if ODU excluded a particular demographic group? The community would be up in arms. Get real!
NSU is a publically funded
NSU is a publically funded school. Taxpayers should take offence at the following statement made in the article:
“The group's goal is to expand research, create an academic pipeline for minorities and make NSU's Center for Materials Research one of the top five producers of black Ph.D. graduates”.
The taxpayer should demand their public colleges are racially and culturally neutral. This program is a travesty since its purpose is not inclusive of the entire community.
How many do you see?
"The program is a travesty since it is not inclusive of the entire community", eh? OK, answer this question? How many black people do you see in that picture? That is the number of black research scientists I see in the entire nine-story research building I work in every day...none. Don't make a ridiculous statement until you know all the facts. The number of black PhD students in science is blindingly small compared to the population of graduates of any kind. I know, because I was one on them.