New compound can turn infrared rays into visible light

Scientists have made a new material that can convert a near-infrared laser beam into visible light, a creation that can help in construction of better microscopes and projection systems.
The emitted light is exceedingly directional, a desirable quality for devices like microscopes that require high spatial resolution, or for applications with high throughput, such as projection systems.
Nils Wilhelm Rosemann of Philipps University of Marburg in Germany and colleagues designed a compound of tin and sulphur, and with a diamondoid-like structure, then coating this scaffolding with organic ligands.
When a laser directs near-infrared light into the compound, the structure of the compound alters the wavelength of the light through a non-linear interaction process, producing light at wavelengths that are visible to the human eye.

The warm, white-coloured light that is emitted is very similar to a standard tungsten-halogen light source, and can be adjusted based on levels of excitation via the laser, the researchers said.
The development may open up new routes for advanced directed illumination technologies, especially since the material used in this system are cheap, readily available, and easily scalable.
The research was published in the journal Science.