Probing the Wave Nature of Light-Matter Interaction
Open Access
- 1 January 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in World Journal of Condensed Matter Physics
- Vol. 08 (02), 62-89
- https://doi.org/10.4236/wjcmp.2018.82005
Abstract
The wave-particle duality of light is a controversial topic in modern physics. In this context, this work highlights the ability of the wave-nature of light on its own to account for the conservation of energy in light-matter interaction. Two simple fundamental properties of light as wave are involved: its period and its power P. The power P depends only on the amplitude of the wave’s electric and magnetic fields (Poynting’s vector), and can easily be measured with a power sensor for visible and infrared lasers. The advantage of such a wave-based approach is that it unveils unexpected effects of light’s power P capable of explaining numerous results published in current scientific literature, of correlating phenomena otherwise considered as disjointed, and of making predictions on ways to employ the electromagnetic (EM) waves which so far are unexplored. In this framework, this work focuses on determining the magnitude of the time interval that, coupled with light’s power P, establishes the energy conserved in the exchange of energy between light and matter. To reach this goal, capacitors were excited with visible and IR lasers at variable average power P. As the result of combining experimental measurements and simulations based on the law of conservation of energy, it was found that the product of the period of the light by its power P fixes the magnitude of the energy conserved in light’s interaction with the capacitors. This finding highlights that the energy exchanged is defined in the time interval equal to the period of the light’s wave. The validity of the finding is shown to hold in light’s interaction with matter in general, e.g. in the photoelectric effect with x-rays, in the transfer of electrons between energy levels in semiconducting interfaces of field effect transistors, in the activation of photosynthetic reactions, and in the generation of action potentials in retinal ganglion cells to enable vision in vertebrates. Finally, the validity of the finding is investigated in the low frequency spectrum of the EM waves by exploring possible consequences in microwave technology, and in harvesting through capacitors the radio waves dispersed in the environment after being used in telecommunications as a source of usable electricity.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Decoupling the Electrical and Entropic Contributions to Energy Transfer from Infrared Radiation to a Power GeneratorWorld Journal of Condensed Matter Physics, 2015
- Optical detection of radio waves through a nanomechanical transducerNature, 2014
- The Interaction of Radio-Frequency Fields with Dielectric Materials at Macroscopic to Mesoscopic ScalesJournal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2012
- Photoelectric EffectPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2009
- X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPYPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2007
- Ionization energies of phosphorus and nitrogen donors and aluminum acceptors insilicon carbide from the donor-acceptor pair emissionPhysical Review B, 2005
- Physics of the microwave ovenPhysics Education, 2003
- Estimation of activation energies for nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, oxygen, and nitrogen reactions by a bond-energy methodThe Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1969
- Studies of Photosynthesis Using a Pulsed Laser: I. Temperature Dependence of Cytochrome Oxidation Rate in Chromatium. Evidence for TunnelingBiophysical Journal, 1966
- XV. On the transfer of energy in the electromagnetic fieldPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1884