RE: Very high frequencies

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Kelly Shutt by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <tcatut-at-mail.utexas.edu>

I have to agree with you on this one.   Although, you can see tesla
coils of a sort all around you... The reason that anything reflects
light is because incoming light excites atoms, and then the atoms reemit
light as their electrons change energy levels.  Thus the atoms become
resonant oscillators as their electrons switch between energy levels
within the atoms.  The idea of a nano tesla coil is an interesting one.

I haven't really been participating in the list for a while because
school hasn't really allowed me any time, my tesla coil is still none
functional in a corner in my garage.  The physics major in me just had
to put in some input on this thread though, seeing as I have a final on
exactly this in two days.

Happy Coiling,
Kelly Shutt 


-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 8:55 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Very high frequencies

Original poster: "Jan Florian Wagner by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jwagner-at-cc.hut.fi>


> what would be the result of a tc or other electrical device that put
out
> high voltages at the frequencies of visible light? would you be able
to
> see the electric field around the coil in the form of visible light?
> maybe this sounds crazy, but if you could do it, it would probably
look
> pretty spacatular.

Well, light IS an oscillating electric field. Just like radio
waves. No difference between them, except for the frequency.

So yes, you could see it. Maybe the closes device to doing this is a
quantum well laser - it runs from DC current (but, it IS resonant). Or
some optically pumped laser which uses resonance of the atoms (t.ex.
helium) to get a very powerful field as the output.

Of course, this isn't what you expected... ;o) 
No big Tesla coil that glows.

The frequency of visible light is pretty high, terahertz region. It is
impossible to make a Tesla coil (coiled up wire and all) that would
resonate at these frequencies - on reason is because the TC is just
way too big. It would have to be in the scale of a few nanometres...

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