Number 36 (Story #2), May 31, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein SILICON HAS BEEN MADE TO EMIT LIGHT in tests conducted in Britain and France. In semiconductors using elements from columns III and V of the Periodic Table, such as GaAs, the energy released in the recombination of electrons and holes can take the form of a photon; this process is harnessed in opto-electronic devices. In silicon, by contrast, the recombination energy usually appears as heat. At last month's Materials Research Society meeting in Anaheim, Leigh Canham from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (UK) reported that his group had succeeded in getting light (of all colors) out of tiny silicon quantum wires. R. Romestain of the University of Grenoble reported getting light (infrared up into the visible) from silicon quantum dots. (Science, 17 May 1991.)