http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/26759.aspx
*Groundbreaking optical device could enhance optical information processing, computers* Whispering Gallery nano-particle based waveguides are an important part of the Ni/H reactor. This optical diode technology might well be applied to the design of the next generation of Ni/H reactors when the reactor's enclosure migrates from stainless steel to a complex nano-engineered composite silicon compound like silicon carbide (SiC)/Silicon. But more appropriate to today's Ni/H reactor technology, one takeaway applications from this article might be the possible use of the rare earth chemical element erbium which provides a way to amplify optical gain in the infrared by trading off against temperature rise. The Ni/H reactor is a "lossy" system which tends to run away in a temperature sensitive positive feedback loop when reactor controls break down. The rare earth element erbium may depress this positive feedback loop in favor of a more favorable longer wavelength optical response characteristic to the nanoparticles at the root of the LENR reaction. This might increase the gain of the LENR system by reducing the need for the application of external power since the element erbium will introduce substantial optical gain into the system by introducing thermal inertia and stabilizing temperature increase much like a nuclear control rod controls a runaway nuclear reaction.
