Researchers at Harvard University have created the world's smallest radio receiver which is made from diamonds.
The radio receiver is based on nano-sized flaws in the pink diamond. Its functional building blocks are the size of only two atoms.
The world's smallest radio receiver works perfectly for playing music on a local radio station. It's a device built on a micro-scale
Human created radio transmissions were established in the 19th century.
In addition to its small dimensions, the pink diamond basis of the receiver means that this piece of nanotechnology is highly resistant to external conditions.
This is making future versions of the device ideal for use in space or other extreme environments.
The technology at the core of the receiver might also be used in quantum computing, potentially pushing future computer processing power forward by a massive margin.
The scientists could remove one carbon atom in the diamond and replace it with a nitrogen atom. Next to the nitrogen atom, the scientists removed another carbon atom.
Thereby they set up an atomic-scale system consisting of a nitrogen atom with a hole next to it (thus, "nitrogen-vacancy"). These NV centers were each able to emit single photons and detect magnetic fields.
The scientists then pumped green laser light into the diamond, exciting the electrons in the NV centers.
Once excited, these electrons are able to detect electromagnetic fields, including radio waves, and convert these signals into red light.
From there, a photodiode could read the red light and convert it into a current, which was then translated into sound.
A strong magnetic field around the diamonds allowed scientists to tune the device by changing the receiving frequency of the NV centers.
