Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1381013
90 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2021 dards that may undergo revision at any time. Additionally, new material can (and absolutely should) be added upon request by industry. Indeed, a quick turnaround is expected; as a Desk Reference, this document is not metered by the usual IPC Standards Development pro- cesses and can therefore be revised quickly. However, if the document is to be maintained annually, it is critical for continuous input from industry. Last month, I worked with I-Connect007 to advertise the IPC-DR-DES working group and hopefully attract industry volunteers to make sure that this document is a relevant and useful product for the electronics manufactur- ing industry. I could not be happier with the response, and it is heartening to see design engineers from around the world volunteer their time. So, I will leave this abbreviated column with a similar call to action: If you would like to become involved with IPC-DR-DES, please reach out to me. Alternatively, if you have an idea for a standard or other project that IPC can help make a reality, we have launched a new portal for submitting such ideas on IPC. org. To submit an idea or look at other ideas (and become involved), click here. I look forward to hearing from you. DESIGN007 Patrick Crawford is the manager of design programs and related industry programs at IPC. To read past columns or contact him, click here or email PatrickCrawford@ ipc.org. It's always good when your hard work reflects well on you. With the discovery of the giant polar- ization rotation of light, that is literally so. The ultrathin, highly aligned carbon nanotube films first made by Rice University physicist Junich- iro Kono and his students a few years ago turned out to have a surprising phenomenon waiting within: an ability to make highly capable terahertz polarization rotation possible. This rotation doesn't mean the films are spinning. It does mean that polarized light from a laser or other source can now be manipulated in ways that were previously out of reach, making it completely visible or completely opaque with a device that's extremely thin. The unique optical rotation happens when linearly polarized pulses of light pass through the 45-nano- meter film and hit the silicon surface on which it sits. The light bounces between the substrate and film before finally reflecting back, but with its polariza- tion turned by 90 degrees. The discovery by lead author Andrey Baydin, a postdoctoral researcher in Kono's lab, is detailed in Optica. The phenomenon, which can be tuned by changing the refractive index of the substrate and the film thickness, could lead to robust, flexible devices that manipulate terahertz waves. Because terahertz radiation easily passes through materials like plastics and cardboard, they could be particularly useful in manufacturing, quality control and process monitoring. They could also be handy in telecommunications systems and for security screening, because many materials have unique spectral signatures in the terahertz range, Kono said. (Source: Rice University) Thin Is Now in To Turn Terahertz Polarization