New device uses a purple diamond in a quartz tube to amplify microwave signals

A new device uses a purple diamond in a quartz tube exposed to an intense magnetic field to amplify microwave signals.

The system creates a maser, the microwave equivalent of a laser, to amplify weak microwave and radio signals.

It could be used to receive data from spacecraft but also from microwave-emitting sources such as pulsars, black holes, and galaxies.