For the first time, researchers have succeeded in creating light in a solid state, or more precisely, a “supersolid” state. A major breakthrough made possible by the laws of quantum physics.
We can do many things with light. Lighting up, connecting to the Internet with a chip no bigger than a fingernail... There are plenty of applications. For part of the scientific community, the goal is to manage to manipulate it differently. Some, for example, have managed to bend light without using optical fiber. This feat is now accompanied by another never-before-seen achievement: the creation of solid-state light.
The discovery by researchers at Italy's National Research Council (CNR) goes even further. They have shown that light can be transformed into what is called a "supersolid." These are unique materials, both solid and liquid. Imagine a tangible object, which you can touch, but capable of flowing like a fluid. Having trouble imagining it? That's normal. It goes against classical physics and can only be understood within the framework of quantum mechanics.
Light can become solid, researchers have succeeded
Humans have already succeeded in creating supersolids in the laboratory. Most often by using atoms cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero, minus 273.15° Celsius. The CNR team did it differently. They projected a laser onto a semiconductor material. The photons that make up the laser light come into contact with the electrons in the target, and a reaction occurs. Polaritons, which are hybrid quasiparticles, are then formed.
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But the trick is that the semiconductor used for the experiment was etched with a “ridge” pattern. This affects the behavior of the polaritons, to put it simply. As a result, the quasiparticles came together to create a supersolid. And Dimitrios Trypogeorgos, a researcher at the CNR, concludes: "We have actually transformed light into a solid. It's quite impressive. Quite indeed." Source: NewScientist
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