Nature 319, 393 - 394 (30 January 1986); doi:10.1038/319393a0

A new optical photochemical memory device in a light-sensitive chemical active medium

L. Kuhnert

Zentralinstitut für physikalische Chemie der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, 1199 Berlin-Adlershof, Rudower Chaussee 5, Berlin, DDR

Active media are physical, chemical or biological systems which can compensate their internal energy dissipation by a continuous power input. In homogeneous well stirred chemical systems, self-sustained oscillations can occur. However, in distributed systems which provide spatially distributed energy sources, propagation effects—including waves—can be observed. The most extensively studied example of such a system model is the Belousov−Zhabotinsky reaction^1,2. This reaction shows a range of unusual kinetic phenomena, especially in the distributed system, where trigger waves and phase waves can be observed³. By using Ru(bpy)²⁺ ₃ as catalyst for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction we obtained a light-sensitive chemical active medium and had been able to manipulate the character of wave phenomena by photochemical action⁴. Here we suggest a new kind of optical photochemical memory-device based on photoinduced phase shift in a distributed chemical oscillating medium.

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