Neat idea! Here's a couple of problems that occur to me immediately. The
first is uniformity. On the microscale the plasma in a plasma display
panel is not very homogeneous. So within a given pixel there is a large
variation in electron density. Second, I suspect that in order to reach
the electron densities required to make the plasma reflective in the
near IR (for telecom) you would have to have a plasma with an electron
density comparable to that of an arc discharge. Of course such a
thermalized plasma would emit all over the IR and would swamp out any
signal. That is just a guess, I'm no plasma physicist.

-Mike Martin
 U. of Louisville

>>> ToddSicklinger@aol.com 01/28/05 2:16 PM >>>
I'd like to get your thoughts on using a plasma field instead of a
traditional minor to reflect the light in an optical switch.