downconverting optical frequencies...

On 07/18/2010 06:37 PM, steveu wrote:
>> hello forum,
>>
>> I know that is it is possible to downconvert high frequencies to lower
>> frequencies....
>>
>> what is the highest frequency we can downconvert and why? How is it done?
>>
>> ( I don't think the issue exists in the reverse direction:  we can
> convert
>> any low frequency signal to a high frequency one)
>
> One crude downconvert with real world applications is to shine two lasers
> on a silicon photosensor. I think most types of silicon sensor work OK for
> this. The modes of a laser are typically hundreds of megahertz apart. If
> you use gratings to pick out a single mode from each of the lasers, you
> will see the difference frequency in the output of the sensor.

Is it real world as in "guys with white coats and big dreams", or is it 
a commercial success?

And by "commercial success" I mean does it make money for the people who 
buy it, not just the people who sell it.

-- 

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

On Jul 19, 12:51&#4294967295;pm, Tim Wescott <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote:
> On 07/19/2010 07:08 AM, Clay wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jul 18, 9:41 am, "fisico32"<marcoscipioni1@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >> hello forum,
>
> >> I know that is it is possible to downconvert high frequencies to lower
> >> frequencies....
>
> >> what is the highest frequency we can downconvert and why? How is it done?
>
> >> &#4294967295; ( I don't think the issue exists in the reverse direction: &#4294967295;we can convert
> >> any low frequency signal to a high frequency one)
>
> >> thanks
> >> fisico32
>
> > How high do you want to go? Check out both the Compton and Inverse
> > Compton scattering. &#4294967295;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_scattering
>
> > You can upconvert E-M radiation to make x-ray or gamma beams by
> > upconverting uv light by ramming them head on into a electron stream
> > (inverse compton effect).
>
> Does that result in light that is coherent to the source? &#4294967295;I.e. is the
> amplitude of the light wave multiplied by some power function, or is the
> mechanism more like cyclotron radiation?
>
> --
>
> Tim Wescott
> Wescott Design Serviceshttp://www.wescottdesign.com
>
> Do you need to implement control loops in software?
> "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
> See details athttp://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

This does not have to be coherent. You have the original energy
spreads of both the E-M radiation and the electron sources.
Synchrotron radiation works differently.

Clay