English for Masters. Маркушевская Л.П - 19 стр.

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Университет ИТМО | Санкт-Петербург

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19
The ETH researchers think there is a long way to go before identifying any practical
applications for their findings. For example, "it is not clear to me," Sandoghdar
admits, "how wiring at the nanoscale could be achieved in order to make such optical
transistors communicate between them. The low temperature, fundamental in our
experiment, is another issue for real applications and, moreover, a higher efficiency
will be needed; maybe atoms will work better than what molecules do. Right now,
academic applications are for sure easier to tackle for this system, such as, for
example, exploring quantum information schemes. It is amazing though," he adds "to
see what a small element, like a single molecule, can do in terms of light absorption
and amplification."
There is still a lot to do in these days in nanophotonics before electronics will
be substituted by all-optical circuits, but, as Wiersma says, "this result is a really
important step forward. It might be that, one day, we could use these single-molecule
optical transistors as building blocks for creating fully optical circuits, which, of
course, would be fantastic." When the first electronic transistor was developed it was
huge and it seemed impossible that a centimeter size object would ever be scaled
down and become as useful as it is today. The same holds for the first laser which
filled an entire room and was considered completely useless in the early days. What
followed is history: transistors are the heart of modern electronics, and lasers are used
for surgery, CD players, bar code scanners, and much more. "Application driven
research," Wiersma concludes, "will never provide real scientific progress and, vice
versa, it is impossible to know all the applications that can come out of an important
scientific result. Do not forget, therefore, to look also at the sheer beauty of the result
as such: these researchers managed to block and control a beam of light with one
single molecule, which is a really exceptional achievement!"
Notes:
• perturb - возмущать, приводить в смятение; тревожить; нарушать
• obtain - получать; добывать; приобретать
• cross-section - поперечное сечение,
• tackle - биться (над какой-л. задачей) , пытаться
найти решение (каких-л.
вопросов)
• amplification - увеличение; подъём, прирост, расширение
• attenuate - ослаблять; смягчать
• sheer - абсолютный, полнейший, сущий, явный
Task 1. Choose the true sentence from two similar ones.
1. a) Molecules can emit light through a process called stimulated emission — the
same working principle of lasers: an electron, after being perturbed by a photon with
the proper energy, emits a second photon with the same phase, frequency,
polarization, and direction of travel as the original.
b) Molecules can emit light through a process called stimulated emission — the same
working principle of lasers: a photon, after being perturbed by an electron with the

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