Pretty Soon, Your Gold Wedding Band Will probably be Any Color You wish [Science]

Researchers have found out how one can use a selected engraving technique as a way to alter the frequency of light a metal-any metal-absorbs or reflects. How? By carving tiny rings, smaller than the wavelengths of light.

Gold normally absorbs blue light, which provides it its yellowish hue. Silver metals absorb and emit practically every frequency of visible of light (which implies… they’re actually colorless).

By carving a pattern of rings onto a metal’s surface, the properties of its electrons, called the resonant frequency, is altered. By varying the scale and depth of these rings, the frequency of light a metal absorbs and reflects is changed. No other properties of the metal are affected.

This is basically an analogous technique that scientists are using to create invisibility cloaks, except that rather than seeking to make light pass through a cloth, they simply need to redirect how light is reflected and absorbed. [ Technology Review ]

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This post is tagged: engraving technique, light gold, resonant frequency, scientists, silver metals, wavelengths, yellowish hue