One needs to know about MINFLUX to understand the article. Fortunately the Wikipedia article gets crisply to the point. MINFLUX involves steering a tubular beam of light onto something that fluoresces. When the dark center of the beam is on target, fluorescence stops. If your beam-pointing is calibrated, you know where the target is.
Sounds like a pain in the arse? It is. The article is about a cheaper way to build the gadget.
It reminds me a bit of WWII airborne radar, intended to allow fighter aircraft to attack bombers at night. Those worked at VHF frequencies, it was what they could generate at the time. So the angular resolution was too poor to be useful, except for this clever trick. Don't use the obvious beam shape. Use a beam with a null. The echo tells you that there is a bomber out there, somewhere ahead. Wiggle your path a bit. If the null of the antenna pattern hits the bomber, the radar return stops - time to shoot!
happytoes 0 points 10 months ago
One needs to know about MINFLUX to understand the article. Fortunately the Wikipedia article gets crisply to the point. MINFLUX involves steering a tubular beam of light onto something that fluoresces. When the dark center of the beam is on target, fluorescence stops. If your beam-pointing is calibrated, you know where the target is.
Sounds like a pain in the arse? It is. The article is about a cheaper way to build the gadget.
It reminds me a bit of WWII airborne radar, intended to allow fighter aircraft to attack bombers at night. Those worked at VHF frequencies, it was what they could generate at the time. So the angular resolution was too poor to be useful, except for this clever trick. Don't use the obvious beam shape. Use a beam with a null. The echo tells you that there is a bomber out there, somewhere ahead. Wiggle your path a bit. If the null of the antenna pattern hits the bomber, the radar return stops - time to shoot!