RETRACTED ARTICLE: Photon–phonon anti-stokes upconversion of a photonically, electronically, and thermally isolated opal

The purpose of the present research was to investigate an intense violet shift displayed by a non-toxic, natural silicate material with a highly ordered nanostructure. The material displayed an unexpected, nonlinear 2:3 photon–phonon anti-Stokes upconversion while photonically, electronically, and thermally isolated. Conducted aphotonically and at ambient temperatures, the specimen upconverted a low-power, 650 nm constant wave red laser to an internally highly dispersed 433 nm violet wavelength. The strong dispersion was largely due to nearly total internal reflection of the laser. The upconversion had an efficiency of about 78 %, based on specimen volume, with no detectable thermal variance. The 2:3 anti-Stokes upconversion displayed by this material is likely the result of a previously unknown photon–phonon evanescence response that amplified the energy of a portion of the incident laser photons. Thus, a portion of the incident laser photons were upconverted, and the material converted another portion into an amplified energy that caused the upconversion. Internal micro-lasing appeared to be a means of photon–phonon evanescent energy redistribution, enabling dispersed photonic upconversion. Additional analyses also found an unexpectedly rhythmic photonic structure in spectrophotometric scans, polariscopic color changing, and previously undocumented ultraviolet responses.